Until the Seaweed Wraps Around Your Ankles
by Castello
Summary: Uma is now a student of Auradon Prep, much to the dismay of most of its students. New friendships are made, others destroyed. Ben and Harry have to work around Ben becoming king and Harry being the new captain of what was once Uma's ship, as well as a very angry Uma now wandering their once peaceful halls. SEQUEL TO PRINCE IN PIECES
1. Chapter 1

Harry and Ben sat side by side under the stone gazebo that sat along the waters of the Enchanted Lake. Sitting atop Harry's long, red leather jacket, Ben let his feet swing out along the water, splashing Harry's bare leg every now and then and chuckling when the pirate growled playfully at him in return.

"Hey, don't get these pants wet." Ben fondly chided, "I've got a meeting later and I'd like to keep the lake water off of these so I don't have to change."

Harry smirked, "We could always take 'em off?"

Ben snorted and pecked a kiss onto his nose, "Tonight. I promise. I know we've both been busy lately, but the meeting is going to last me an hour and I don't want to be sitting there smelling like..." he coughed, "Well..."

"Like my _claimed_ Omega?" Harry teased, leaning forward to lick a little at Ben's neck teasingly, "Like ye've got a load a Alpha _cum_ up yer arse?"

"Harry," Ben chided, the red blooming up from his cheeks and cascading all the way down his neck, "don't do that... and don't tease."

"Who says 'm teasin'?"

Ben groaned, and let his head lull back when Harry kissed beneath his jaw, " _Harry_."

"Aight, I'll stop." He said, pulling back with his hands raised in mock surrender, "S' not my fault. Haven't had any real time alone with ya in a while."

"I know, and I'm sorry. Things are just really busy right now. For you too, now that you're captain."

Harry clicked his tongue, "That reminds me. 'M gonna be visitin' the Isle in a few to settle up some stuff. Can I steal ya away from yer princely duties after that?"

"How long will you be there?"

He shrugged, leaning back with his hands settled firmly behind him to prop him up, "Two or three days. I want to rehaul the sails and set up the cabin." he smirked, "Then I can fuck ye in my _captain's quarters_."

Ben grinned for a moment, entertaining the idea before he exhaled defeatedly and let his shoulders droop, "Wait, I'll be traveling to Agrabah after that... I'm supposed to meet with Jasmine for a special course she's offering me... and that'll be six to seven days, depending."

Harry frowned, "So I won't see ya for over a week?"

"I guess not..." Ben sighed with a shrug.

Harry slumped, looking completely discouraged before Ben nudged his arm with an elbow, "I guess we'll just have to make the most of the time we have now, huh?"

Harry smirked, and leaned over to kiss him once before pulling back with an ate-the-canary sort of grin, "You're right."

Before Ben could blink, Harry slipped his arms around Ben's waist, locking his fingers together and winking before pulling Ben into the water with a giant splash.

Ben howled, laughing and shoving water in Harry's face a few times when Harry tried to pull him in. He didn't bother pretending to be mad very long though, relenting quickly and wrapping his legs around Harry's hips to kiss him. "So much for not ruining my clothes."

Harry smirked devilishly before giving him a kiss and an excited, "Can I get ye naked _now_ ?"

Ben snorted, "Maybe if you're quick enough; I bet I get to the other end of the lake before you."

"I got swim lessons from an octopus, love." Harry grinned, "Ya can't possibly beat me."

"Go!" Ben hollered cheerily, pushing off of Harry (and knocking Harry backward in the process) for the headstart and cackling when the pirate shouted curses of outrage and took off after him.

* * *

Mal had been given the 'well earned pleasure' of accompanying Uma on her first day at Auradon. At least, that's how the king's letter had put it. There was no 'pleasure' in dragging a sour Uma behind her everywhere she went, and whatever she'd done to 'earn' this horrible punishment was a mistake she would happily apologize for a hundred times over.

Uma spent every other minute grumbling about something or other; the way she hated the decorations, the gross smell of the entirely too clean front hall, whatever she could find to complain about. She even had the nerve to sneer about how the carpet felt under her feet. "It's weird, too soft, too squishy."

Mal was eager to be done with it all. She hadn't even had Ben to help her out, too busy lately with his kingly duties. With only a month until his coronation, and his mating ceremony with Harry a week before that, the prince was absolutely swamped. Mal had actually caught him one late evening in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee and leaning over the third volume of, "The Omega's guide to Royalty". She'd decided not to remind him of Uma's first day, trying to keep the strain off his shoulders and the bags away from the underside of his eyes.

When the two of them run into Jane, fluttering about the hallway before waving to Mal, she sees the chance to finally pawn off this grumpy charge and get on with her own day. "Jane!"

"Hi, Mal." Jane greeted heartily before peeking around her shoulder and catching sight of Uma. "And... um..?"

"Jane, this is Uma." Mal smirked, waiting for the moment Jane realized who she had a hand extended to.

Jane, to her credit, only flinched a little and kept her hand held out with a polite, welcoming smile on her face, "I've heard a little about you."

"Then you should know I don't shake." Uma tuttered, snapping her teeth once at Jane's fingers until she retracted them.

Mal grunted disapprovingly, "Cool it, Shrimpy."

"It's fine." Jane said, "This is all new to her, its natural to be a little scared-"

"I'm not _scared_." Uma bit, and Jane absolutely shriveled up under the intense gaze of her Alpha stare.

"Nervous." Jane quickly corrected, "I meant nervous, or- or apprehensive. It's very nerve wracking to... uhm... enter a new school and everything."

"Chill Uma." Mal said, considerably less impressed with her 'Alpha glare'. She'd always be Shrimpy to Mal, no matter her status, "Jane is friendly, and since she'll probably be the _only_ person willing to put up with you around here," she added with a mocking smirk and a hand on her hip, "you should probably treat her kindly."

Uma looked Jane up and down once before scowling, "I don't need any _friends_. I'm just here to serve my time and get out."

Jane frowned, "You're planning to leave?"

"Duh." she scoffed, "Who'd want to be stuck here? I have a ship back home and a crew that-"

"You mean _Harry_ has a ship." Mal smirked, entirely too pleased with herself for Uma's liking, "You didn't forget he's the new captain of _the Revenge_ , did you?"

Uma growled and her hands curled into tight fists at her sides.

Jane was quick to jump in and break the tension, "I heard you're a good swimmer." she smiled, friendly and upbeat, "You should try out for the swim team! You'd love it. Melody is a great team captain and..." she paused, "Oh, uhm... you know, on second thought, maybe we should find another activity for you."

Mal narrowed her eyes, "Why? Who's Melody?"

"Uhm..." Jane bumbled, "Melody is Ariel's daughter... so... maybe it's not the best-"

"I'll try out." Uma grunted, crossing her arms over her chest indignantly, "I bet I can swim better than she can."

"She's the team captain." Mal snorted, "You're not supposed to be better than her."

Jane ignored Mal and smiled happily at Uma, nodding with some bit of excitement, "Okay. If you're sure, I'll see if we can get you scheduled in this afternoon! Unless tomorrow works better?"

Uma tipped her head in a small show of acknowledgement, "Tomorrow."

"Okay!" Jane beamed.

Mal looked between them with a flittering thought, but decided to keep her opinions to herself. There would pros and cons to the two of them becoming friends, and it was probably a great a step towards Uma's rehabilitation, but Mal wasn't sure Uma would even be capable of forming a friendship with her. Nevermind _rehabilitation_. Mal was honestly expecting Uma to crash and burn, at the ready to help out with the damage control afterword. She really worried for Jane more than anything. She herself had proved early on that the bright young girl was too easily manipulated and taken for granted; something that might be even more dangerous in _Uma's_ hands that it had been in Mal's.

Mal would just have to be sure to keep a careful eye out for her.

* * *

Ben ran into Uma on his way to Omega History, half of his books falling from his arms and onto the floor as they collided. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" he mumbled, "I didn't mean to-" he paused, finally catching a glimpse of just who he had run into, "to..."

Uma smirked, crossed her arms and leaned against the lockers, "Cat got your tongue?"

"You actually came."

She scoffed, " _You_ invited me."

"I did but..." he bumbled, finally collecting the last of his books into his arms, "They didn't tell me that you'd agreed. Or- or maybe they did and I just missed it-I've been so busy lately and-"

"Forget it." she grumbled, waving him off with a hand, "I don't care."

Uma eyed the little box that had fallen with Ben's books, intrigued. She huffed and jerked her head in its direction, eyes alight with fiendish curiosity, "You're taking birth control?"

"Oh." Ben said, shifting around to pick it up as quick as possible, "It's just not the time for... you know, _that._ " he awkwardly offered, "Just... busy."

Uma smirked, "Not that Harry would _want_ kids anyway."

Ben's sad little frown was sweet candy to Uma, and she watched him shove the little box into his pocket in victory.

Ben tried to smile, to be the assuring and confident prince who saw the best in everyone as he said, "Welcome to Auradon Uma. I'm sorry I wasn't there to greet you properly."

She huffed, the humor gone, "It doesn't matter."

He inclined his head politely, "Well, I'm still sorry. Do you have someone showing you around? Mal-"

"Up and left the first chance she had." Uma sneered, "But some girl keeps following me around trying to tell me the history of every godforsaken little pebble, so you don't have to take up guard duty."

"Ah," Ben said with a slight grin, "Jane's got you covered then. Good. You're in great hands."

Uma huffed, "They're tiny."

"They're... what?" Ben blinked.

Uma rolled her eyes, "Her hands are stupidly _tiny_." she repeated, lips curling into a frown before adding, "They look stupidly easy to break."

Ben gave her an odd look, not lacking in it's polite smile, before giving her an awkward goodbye, "I've got to head to Omega History... so..."

"Go." she sighed, and jerked her head in the direction he'd been jogging when they ran into each other.

"Later, Uma."

"Mmhm." she hummed, waiting until his back was turned before glaring.

He was too happy. She'd hoped her presence in Auradon would throw some kind of wrench in their _oh so sweet_ relationship, but Ben seemed just fine. She wanted to stir up some trouble. Maybe Harry was a little more miserable than Ben. He'd have to be, caught up in this place. The stuffy aura of royalty and the fake and cheery smiles was enough to make a sailor seasick. She'd have to work on that too. Clearly Mal and her little posse of losers hadn't caused enough of a ruckus around here. Their loss.

Uma chuckled as she watched the future king duck into a classroom and nearly tumble with his books again, "You really shouldn't have invited me here, beasty."

* * *

 **So I hope you've enjoyed the short, little first peek chapter here. As the sequel to Prince in Pieces, this story will be focusing half the time on Uma as she enters Auradon, as you might have guessed. But of course, there's still a going to be a good bit going on for our boys. I'll also be touching more on the complicated Mal/Evie relationship and offering some sweet/humorous JayLos moments (that I'm super excited for) and introducing Melody and maybe another OC. I actually have a LOT planned for this, so we'll see how it goes. :)**

 **It's the continuation no one really asked for, but I want to write it so I will. XD**


	2. Chapter 2

Ben and Harry were standing in the bathroom and going through their nightly routine when Ben finally voiced the worry that he'd been carrying with him all day. It probably wasn't fair to Harry to just dump the subject on him so out of the blue, but Harry had never been a fan of subtlety anyway. Harry had told him many times how he preferred it when Ben just spoke his mind instead of beating around the bush. It was a service to Harry then, Ben could tell himself, when he blurted out right after rinsing his mouth, "You do want kids, right Harry?"

Harry nearly choked on his toothbrush, sputtering and coughing into the sink before he could answer, "Where'd _that_ come from?"

Ben let his hip rest against the counter, eyes downcast as his body facing Harry, "...I was just curious." He lied.

Harry frowned at him for a moment, but shrugged before slipping his toothbrush back into their shared cup, "Aye, maybe someday... but we already talked about it, love. 'S not the time."

"I know... but..." Ben began, worriedly rushing out all he was feeling, " you know that if you didn't want to have them at all I wouldn't be mad, right? You can tell me."

"There's nothin' ta tell." he scoffed and wiped his mouth before stretching out his jaw, still not quite used to the clean, minty freshness of their routine. On the Isle, toothpaste was a luxury item that often only came in abhorrent flavors. Like black tooth powder. "Why're ya bringin' this up now?" he huffed, and mirrored Ben's posture, "Ye do _wanna_ get laid tonight, don'tcha?"

Ben huffed, " _Of course_ I-"

"Then stop yer worried yappin' and let me kiss ya," Harry said with a grin, and slipped his fingers around Ben's waist to toy with the hem of his pajama bottoms, "Ye cheated at the lake, so I get ta undress ye now." he smirked, and dipped his pointer into Ben's pants.

He kissed Ben with a little nip of his lips, craning his neck to get the better angle before realizing his Omega wasn't responding. Ben was too wrapped up in the ideas spinning around his head, not able to help feeling just a little disappointed with Harry's answer and wondering if Uma was right and he really was just fooling himself.

Harry sighed and pulled back, seeming to catch on, "Look, it's not that I don't want 'em, I just... 'M not ready for that yet, princess." he admitted, glaring at Ben's bare feet, "I wanna be a captain for a while before worryin' about little babes runnin' around, steppin' on our toes and expectin' me to look after 'em."

Ben chuckled, a little more relieved by the soothing tone of his mate's voice, and leaned in to give Harry a peck on the cheek, "I hardly think that they'll actually _expect_ -"

"Ya know what I mean." He grumbled.

Ben smiled appreciatively, "Thank you, Harry, I think that's all I needed."

"Good." Harry said, and stepped forward into Ben's personal space again with renewed determination, " _Now_ will ye kiss me back?"

Ben grinned, looping an arm up around Harry's neck and using his free hand to help Harry boost him up onto the counter. Ben had almost resigned himself to putting the thought on the backburner for the night when Harry growled in his ear, low and tantalizing, "Like I _don't_ wanna take the chance ta breed ya. Yer fuckin' gorgeous, our little ones would be just as pretty."

Ben whined before he could stop himself, and Harry laughed while his hand skidded up Ben's side, "I _knew_ it."

"Knew what?"

"Ye get hot thinkin' about me puttin' a baby in ya." he drawled, smirking into Ben's neck with a disbelieving huff.

Ben whimpered, Harry's teeth trailing along the sensitive line that flowed from his jaw to his collar, and shook his head, "It's... that's not it."

"Then what _is_ it?" He smiled, and bit down rough enough to make Ben jump with surprise before going lax.

"You and..." Ben whined, and fought to keep talking through the moans trying to force their way out of his mouth, "our family. You being a _dad_ , us being domestic and married and... and a baby carrier-"

Harry jerked his head back, one eyebrow lifted high and an undeniably pleased grin on his face, " _A baby carrier_?"

"I don't know!" Ben sighed desperately, and pressed his palms over his eyes to cover his embarrassment, "It was the first thing that came to mind."

Harry snorted and leaned in to kiss him again, "Ye wanna see me _domestic?_ Is that it?"

"I want to see _us_ domestic, Harry." Ben corrected, "I like the idea of having a family with you and... just having you around... forever. I want that."

Harry's hands stilled in their roaming.

He looked just a little shell shocked, Harry, as he leaned forward onto his hands, planted on either side of Ben. When he recovered enough to reply, he shook his head and rested it against Ben's shoulder, "I'm not goin' anywhere princess," he said gruffly, voice strained, "whether we find ourselves swamped with a bunch a little brats or not. Yer it fer me."

Ben smiled, shifting one hand to cup Harry's cheek, "I know that. I just... like imagining us happy together."

Harry sighed happily, and lifted his mouth to kiss Ben's chin until he laughed, "What is it? What did I say?"

"Yer just... too much." he huffed, and dove back in to nuzzle under his jaw.

Ben flinched at that, hands coming up to Harry's shoulders with a frown, "Too much?"

"Not like _that_." Harry quickly amended, grinning up at his Omega to try and convey his true adoration, "Just... so much _more_ than I ever thought I'd get."

"Even pirates deserve some domestic bliss, Harry." Ben giggled, and ducked his head to plant another fleeting kiss over Harry's upturned lips.

The pirate laughed, lifting a palm to cradle Ben's cheek and promptly kissed him into the counter. "I'll show ye _bliss_ , princess."

Ben let a little beastly growl rumble out from his throat, "Bring it, pirate."

* * *

"Uma," Jane started politely, and gestured towards the girl standing at the head of a small gaggle of other students dressed in swimsuits, "This is Melody, Princess Ariel and Prince Eric's daughter."

Melody turned, but instead of the disgusted look Uma had been expecting, she was greeted with a cocky little smile.

Melody's hair was a jet black, pulled back into a loose ponytail that flipped over her shoulder as she turned, and her smile teetered just on the side of fiendish. She pulled her clipboard against her chest, held out a hand, and looked to Uma expectantly for a shake, "Nice to meet you. When Jane told me about who you were I was very excited to meet you."

Uma huffed, "Can't say I felt the same."

"Uma's really excited to try out for the team!" Jane said quickly, posturally inserting herself between them to try and placate things like always, "We got her a new suit and everything."

There's a giggle from a girl standing behind Melody, and when she whispered into the ears of another two, they mimicked the laugh. Uma heard one boy make a snide comment about her hair-that it would slow her down way too much to qualify for the team-and Uma sneered at the lot of them.

Melody shrugged them off with a wave of her hand, "Don't listen to them. Go ahead and get changed. When you're done, come back and we'll time a lap; it's just back and forth across a lane. We're a competitive team, so if you can complete it in under a minute thirty then you're in."

Jane rushed her off to the lockers with a smile, handing her the black and blue one piece Uma had picked out and turning her back while she changed, "I'm so excited to see you swim! I'll be sitting in the bleachers to watch and cheer you on."

Uma hummed in acknowledgement, privately pleased that she'd have at least someone on her side for this, tugged the final strap over her shoulder, and the two of them returned to the rest of the group. Jane veered off for a seat, and Uma came to stand directly in front of Ariel's daughter. Definitely _not_ to size her up or anything. But Uma was a half an inch shorter, and her shoulders were a little broader, just in case anyone was curious.

Melody smiled, clipboard rested in the crook of her arm, "Jane's brought me a few newbies before, but I think this may the first time she's stayed to watch. She must be just as curious about your abilities as I am." **  
**

Uma scoffed, "Just try not to look too impressed after I'm through, fish lips."

"Funny, coming from a big, floppy sea spider," She smirked in reply, "but I'll try my best."

Uma snorted and lined herself up with the edge of the pool, toes planted just before the water's edge and fingertips ghosting over the rim. She was going to make a perfect dive, swim that lap well under the time crunch and surpass all of their expectations. She'd prove herself better than any of those sniggering swim team members. _They'd learn her name._

"Ready?" Melody asked, and clicked the timer between them when Uma nodded, "Go!"

She kicked off with a flourish and splashed into the cool blue pull of the water.

It felt like being home, in the relaxed waves coming off of her dive that drew her deeper and deeper. Some other time Uma would have to return here and simply allow herself to drift with the water. It wouldn't be the same as floating with the ocean's tides, but she could still see the appeal. The temperature was nicer, for one thing. Heated pools weren't something she'd have ever thought of.

 _But some other time._

Right now, Uma had to concentrate on her speed.

Her legs were fast on their own, slim and trimmed for swimming by the blessings of genetics. Her arms were excellent too, certainly, but her hair was the real secret.

The others had laughed at her, thinking something so long and voluminous would surely weigh her down or give her too much drag, but Uma's hair was special. Uma's hair was... almost an extension of herself. In the water, she could control the strands like an octopus controlled their tentacles. They swayed with the surf to prevent drag naturally, the air flowing through carefully crafted holes like the water worked through the throws of a tentacle. But it wasn't their flow, but her hair's _reaction_ to the water that gave her the leg up every time.

Each strand moved behind her as she swam, short sways back and forth, like a snake along the water's surface, sliding through with exceptional speed. Not only did her hair not drag her down, it propelled her forward. The water moved around her like Moses' path through the red sea, and she made it to the wall in a flash. On instinct she rolled, curling into a ball until her feet were planted and she once again kicked off. The water was her home turf, and it carried her all the way to victory like a loyal soldier.

From above the water's surface, it looked as though Uma's hair engulfed her, the strands wiggling behind her like the tentacles of a squid, speeding through the water just as fast, if not faster.

When she came up, the lap already finished and only having left her _ever so slightly_ breathless, the giggling girls were shocked silent. Uma looked around, wondering if maybe they'd verbally attack her about it anyway, just out of spite, but Jane's excited clapping stole her attention away from them before she could panic.

"Go Uma!" she cheered, standing from her seat in the bleachers and clapping hard and proud.

It wasn't long before the others joined her, their claps much slower, most of them still a little stunned, but nevertheless celebratory. When Uma climbed over the edge of the pool to stand she was rushed by Jane and the team, patting her on the back and singing songs of her praise.

"Oh my gosh! You were _amazing!_ " Jane congratulated, offering her a towel and a grin.

Uma shrugged, pulling the towel up to her face to dry it off, "I'm an excellent swimmer."

"With you on the swim team, we just can't lose!" a beta boy added, slipping in beside them and grinning, "You were totally awesome!"

"Isn't that cheating though?" another member piped up, "Using her hair like that?"

Melody came up to Jane's side, grinning, "If I'm allowed to swim being part mermaid, Uma being part octopus shouldn't be any different." she held out her hand for Uma to shake, "You did that in forty nine seconds, Uma. You not only passed but you beat my record. Welcome to the team, sea spider."

The corner of Uma's mouth upturned for a split second as she took it, secretly reveling in the praise and admiration of her peers before she schooled her smirk in favor of another casual shrug. "I thought I told you not to look too impressed, fish lips."

* * *

Jane took Uma to her first class. Then her second. Then to the principal's office after an encounter with Happy's son. Uma hadn't liked the way he'd looked at her, and surprisingly, he'd thrown the first punch. Weird dark streak...

The class schedule wasn't particularly difficult to decipher, but Uma was still having some difficulties. They didn't have public schools on the Isle. There was 'homeschooling', or at least, the lazy villain parent's adapted version of it. Mainly street smarts and maybe basic motor skills for the first few years. It was hard to train a lackee who couldn't talk, after all.

"So here we are." Jane beamed, stopping in front of a generic door for Uma's final class before lunch, "Remedial Goodness 101. Classes will be starting in just a few minutes, so I'd better run-"

Jane was just about to leave when Uma grabbed her by the arm, spinning Jane around and almost right into her. "You're not in this class?"

"..Uh, no." she smiled, "This is Remedial Goodness. I'm already good," she pointed down the hall in the direction she had been headed, "I'm going to be just two doors down in Linguistics."

Uma frowned, "Linguistics. So... who else is in this 'remedial goodness' class then?" she asked, somewhat knowingly, but wanting to be sure before she willingly stepped into hostile territory, "Sounds like I might run into some old friends in there."

Jane gave her a sorry look and a shrug before sheepishly stating the list, "Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay... Uhm... Harry too actually... I mean.. if you'd _like_ me to stay and sit in with you, or if it would make it easier, maybe I could get a pass from my class just this once and-"

"No." Uma snapped, "No, I've got it."

"Here." Jane says, and handed Uma a sleek, blue little device. "It's a cell phone."

"I know what a cell phone is." she grumbled, and twirled it once between her fingers to inspect its decorated cover.

"Carlos said you guys didn't really have them on the isle..."

Uma hummed, "Doesn't mean I don't know what it is. Some people had em'. Sea shells?"

"I decorated it myself, thought it could use something kind of... _you_ about it, you know?" Jane said with a smile, lips stretched a mile wide, "At least you know it won't get mistaken for someone else's phone that way. My number's already in it, and my mother's, just in case you have an emergency."

Uma stared at the phone for a moment before slipping it into her back pocket. She didn't bother to offer any thanks, because it was probably only given to her as a means to keep track of her anyway. They wouldn't be giving her gifts out of courtesy. She didn't owe Jane any real thanks for that, even if she had individually glued the little (coral blue) shells onto its back.

Uma turned to leave, deciding to just right into things and show up to her first class like she owned the joint. She was good at faking confidence. Getting through with the day would be easier if she simply acted like she wasn't as nervous as she really was.

"Good luck!" Jane called hopelessly to her back.

Curse her and her stupid luck. Uma didn't need _luck_.

The classroom was big. Uma could almost compare it to the wide deck of her would-be ship. _Harry's ship now_ , her mind supplied bitterly. The desks sat in rows of two seater tables, outlining a walkway from the back of the room to the front, an isle of garish blue carpet, even bluer walls, and gold everywhere to accompany. It couldn't reek any more of _goodness_ if they tried. It was as if the decorators had set out to make Uma vomit. She suddenly missed the dark, crusty walls of the chip shop more than ever.

The others were seated in pairs, Evie with Mal, Jay and Carlos sat across from them, and Harry casually resting in front of the boys with his boots up on the desk, hands clasped behind his head.

She wanted to smack his hat off in a rude awakening.

Uma tried to just slip into a seat at the back, away from their prying eyes and judgemental commentary, but Fairy Godmother wasn't having it. She grinned, brimming with false cheeriness as she waved to her, being obnoxiously loud as she called out, "Oh no dear, that's much too far back! Come sit closer so that you can see the board."

At her comment, the Vk's turned around in their seats to see who had joined them, most of them almost falling out of their seats when they finally spotted her. All but Mal looked completely gobsmaked, and Harry... well... Harry looked deliciously enraged to see her.

Harry growled as soon as his eyes found her, standing suddenly from his seat to puff his chest and glare warningly, "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Seriously? Did _none_ of you know I was invited? You'd think you _losers_ would be the first to find out." she eyed Fairy Godmother to add, "I can see fine."

"Ben wouldn't have invited ya here after _what ye did_ -"

"I got a royal invitation." she grinned, all too happy to be causing a little more tension between them, "Hand signed by the King and Queen."

"Did Ben not tell you?" Mal asked curiously, and Harry turned to stare at her with absolute hatred, "...I thought he would've."

"Why do you look completely unsurprised by this?" Jay asked with accusation.

Mal sighed and waved a hand absently, "They asked me to bring her over... Since I can deal with her."

"Uma," Fairy Godmother politely called, "please come sit closer to the board. I understand this is a difficult and odd situation for you all but-"

"I can see _just fine_ from here." Uma bit out frustratedly.

Fairy Godmother pointed to a chalk scribble on the board knowingly, "What does this say?"

She growled in defiance, but relented anyway, stepping past the desks the VK's occupied and slotting herself into the chair on the opposite of Harry, in front of Mal and Evie. She wasn't about to sit next to Harry, for obvious reasons.

"Your stupid hat's blocking my view." Mal said with a self satisfied tut.

"Not tall enough to see the board without a phonebook?" she sneered back over her shoulder.

"Shrimpy comes at me with a slight of height, who would have guessed. The hat doesn't help you compensate for being so short you know." she smiled, "Maybe try a dunce cone? Those are pretty tall."

"Enough!" Fairy Godmother said, uncharacteristically cross as she snapped her ruler loudly against the board, "I understand this arrangement is... well, _complicated_ , but in this classroom you are all expected to behave. Fight it out after class."

Evie and Carlos were obediently quiet while Jay, Mal and Harry all bristled. Uma tried and failed to hide her satisfaction, getting all of them into trouble. They were acting too good. They were villain kids for crying out loud, they should be knocking over the books and drawing inappropriate things on the blackboard, but just sitting there with their fake little halos.

Fairy Godmother smiled at them, "Thank you. Now, tell me which of these answers is correct."

Uma glared sideways at Harry, who had his teeth barred in her direction. She gave him a little condescending wave of her fingers and only looked back at the board when Fairy Godmother cleared her throat. Harry looked ready to rip her throat out with his teeth, and Uma wondered if he would be okay with failing this stupid class in order to do it. Wouldn't that be a fun idea?

* * *

 **So... I know I keep bringing up little Ben-Harry babies here, but I'm still undecided if I want to make this mpreg or not... your opinions would be lovely. I love the idea of them at least talking about it, or maybe making it something talked about at the end of the story, so we're left with a happy ending and knowing Ben is preggers or something. :3 Just unsure if I wanna dive into the entire pregnancy kick and babies yet...**

 **Who knows, maybe a future installment for the series would be the next generation. XD**  
 **Would seriously love to hear your thoughts on that. Benry babies or what? lol**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well... I wanted to write more Benry sex and here we are. You didn't think the sequel would be totally smutless, did you? ;)**

* * *

Harry stormed up to Ben's office first thing after class and opened the door without knocking.

Ben was on the phone, sitting at his desk with a little piece in his ear, and when Harry entered his smile lit up the room. When he saw Harry's distraught expression though, he frowned, raised a finger to his ear, and offered the other person on the line a short, "I'll have to call you back." before hanging up.

He looked up at Harry, who came right up to the edge of the desk, "Harry? What's wrong?"

" _Uma_ is here?" he snapped, sharp and angry, "You invited _Uma_ to Auradon?"

"Ah." Ben sighed, and tried to speak in a placating tone to elicit some understanding, "Well... my parents did, but I said they could. It was this or an adult prison, Harry-"

"Then ye shoulda let her rot!" he growled, and slammed his fists down onto the desk, jostling everything on the surface, "That two-faced scallion deserves it after what she tried to do-"

"But she _didn't_ do it."

" _Gil_ didn't do it." Harry spat back, and Ben seriously feared for the wellbeing of his desk.

Ben opened his mouth to speak, but Harry beat him to it. A sad, weary and almost disappointed, "Why didn't ya just tell me?" falling helplessly from his lips.

"Oh, Harry. I... I'd forgotten honestly... We were really busy and I didn't think she'd actually accept the invitation. I didn't-"

"Busy." Harry scoffed, "We're always _busy_ , damn it. Ya can't use that as an excuse every time! Did ye forget what she tried to do to ya?"

Ben frowned, "Of course I didn't, Harry, but-"

"No! She tried ta mate ye off to someone else." Harry shouted angrily, and slammed his fists down one more time before Ben stood up, "There's no 'but' about it. She tried to _take ya from me_ -"

"Harry." Ben pleaded, coming to his side and gently laying a hand over his arm, "Harry, I'm still here. I'm still yours and it's all okay, alright? Her plan failed, _we're_ okay-"

He shook his head, "But now she's _here_ , Ben. It's _not_ okay. She could try again-"

"I have my charm." Ben assured him, and lifted the jewel laced around his neck so that Harry could see, "She has special cuffs that bard her magic and I have you here to keep me safe. She can't do anything to anyone here, Harry. Everything is still alright."

Harry frowned, "Maybe I shouldn't go back to my ship right now... It can wait-"

"No, you said yourself you need to go and check in on her. We're still working on getting the permit to release The Revenge from the Isle and it'll take even longer to get all of the crew approved..." he sighed, and squeezed where he held Harry's shoulder, "but for now you're stuck between both worlds, Harry. You need to go. _Your crew_ needs you to go, and it's just two days."

"...and then ye'll be off to some palace."

Ben smiled softly, and brought his free palm to Harry's cheek, "You could always come with me?"

"I saw what happened when you brought Mal over there with ye last time." he snickered, but leaned into Ben's touch, "Curry stains don't exactly bring out my pretty eyes."

"But I bet you'd look amazing in a sarong."

Harry smirked, "Aren't people usually naked under those?"

Ben smiled and pulled him a little closer, "We could be... It would definitely make it easier to undress you at the end of the day."

"Yer trying to distract me..." Harry grunted, a groan still slipping up from his throat at the very thought of only one simple layer to rip away.

"Is it working?"

Harry grumbled but pulled Ben in for a kiss anyway, "All this time and yer still just a little minx."

Ben smiled mischievously and leaned in to peck small kisses on Harry's neck between thoughts, "Imagine sex, surrounded by silk and pillows... bright colors and candlelight."

"How 'bout on this expensive looking desk instead?" Harry groaned, hands wandering up to Ben's sides, "Could probably make a right mess of all yer princely paperwork..."

Ben grinned, slid his hand up from Harry's shoulder to behind his neck, and hauled him in closer. "Maybe don't wreck my paperwork."

Harry attached his lips to Ben's and lifted him onto the desk by his hips in a smooth motion, never even needing to break their kiss, and slotted himself perfectly in between his legs. His hook lay atop a small stack of documents, abandoned so that his fingers could slip beneath the sheen fabric of Ben's shirt and ruck it up and out of his pants.

He was suddenly frustrated with Ben's state of dress. Both of them, actually. They always had so many clothes... Harry has baubles as well. Maybe it would be nice to go somewhere they wouldn't be wearing much... _or_ he could just keep Ben naked in bed all day, pliant and waiting for him. That was a good idea too.

Harry growled possessively as Ben shifted up to slip his pants and underwear off, the air scenting with the released pheromones, screaming out the lust of a horny Omega. His hand immediately shot down to feel, dip into that sweet slick that gave out such a smell. Harry wanted to see just how wet his Omega was for him, leaning forward to lick a stripe up his neck as he slipped his palm beneath him.

Ben whimpered when Harry's urgent fingers pressed against his hole, already loosening just in anticipation of his Alpha. He shifted again, this time so that his back was pressed down on the desk, presenting for his Alpha with his pants dangling off one leg. The papers made scuffling noises of protest as Harry dragged him closer to the surface's edge, some crumpling under the assault while others flew off the desk and onto the floor in a flurry.

Pens rolled, (probably important) documents crinkled, and Ben couldn't get enough of the taboo it all implied, how _bad_ it was to be doing this here. He liked falling into Harry's wicked whims like this now and then; sneaking away somewhere still pretty public for a quickie, or in this case, ruining paperwork with his slick, Harry's cum and their combined sweat. He groaned at the thought, head falling back in a submissive gesture as his Alpha pushed two impatient fingers into him. "Harry!"

He got a pleased grumble in reply, and harry clicked his tongue, "Ah ah, love, say what I want ta hear."

" _Alpha._ " Ben quickly amended, and brought one hand up above his head to grip at the wood, the other down to touch himself. He stopped just shy of his erection, hand hovering, "Alpha, can I?"

"Yeah." Harry grunted, watching, mezmorized as Ben wrapped his fingers around himself to give two slow jerks. " _God, yeah_."

Ben whined as another finger was added to the bunch, then one more before Harry was twisting his wrist, crooking at the knuckle and practically drooling over the sight of Ben writhing down against him. It was his favorite sight to see, Ben coming undone for him under his hand. The loveliest sight he'd ever seen, better than any attraction a sail around the world could offer him. His treasure.

He retracted his hand quickly, apologizing when Ben whimpered, and unbuckled his pants with the utmost urgency.

Ben leaned up to kiss him as he lined up, but threw his head back with a gasp when he pressed inside. Harry took the chance to bite his neck, teeth slotting directly over their mating mark in prideful glee. Ben jolted, jerking forward and against Harry's chest with a stuttered squeal before digging his nails into Harry's back. He relaxed under the assault of teeth a moment later, his Omega hindbrain filling his body with the calming knowledge that he was in his Alpha's arms; safe and protected, mated and _home._

"Alpha..." he moaned, and Harry could feel the beginnings of his knot swelling.

He groaned, retracting his fangs enough to talk while still rubbing his cheek against the mark. _Rubbing his scent in._ "I can't knot ya right now... Y've got-"

"I know." Ben sighed frustratedly, "Just... ungh, please keep biting me. Wanna..." his breath hitched on a particularly hard thrust that had him jolting off the desk for a moment, "Wanna be reminded all day, Alpha..."

Harry's responding growl was low and dangerous, overflowing with arousal and possessive need as he did just that, landing hard bite after bite along the curve of Ben's neck. He grabbed Ben up with hands on either cheek, lifting him right off the flat surface and into the air, now dependant on Harry to keep him upright.

"Harry!" he gasped, clawing at his shoulders and leaning his weight onto Harry's chest, gaspy whines punched out of him with every frantic upward thrust.

The pirate plundered like a man on a mission, growling into Ben's neck and lifting him up before dropping him right back down onto Harry's cock in a rough repetitive motion that had Ben _wailing_. He took and took, rough and quick. He let his teeth chomp over whatever he could get within reach, fulfilling his mate's pleas for Harry to "keep going", to "keep biting" him harder and harder. Harry devoured every desperate sound Ben gave him and dug his fingers into the soft flesh of his cheeks. He tipped his head up to mouth at Ben's ear next, worrying the lobe between his teeth before snarling out a gravely command to cum.

He loved when Ben gave in to an orgasm when he demanded it. It filled him with a dominant Alpha pride and brought him two steps closer to his own, if not sending him right over the edge, almost every single time.

Harry could smell the moment Ben came, the scent spurting up and invading his nostrils, driving him to pound harder and faster, chasing that sweet relief himself and chomping his teeth down on Ben's collar just one more time before spilling inside.

Ben absolutely howled, there was no other word for it; the gutteral noise of satisfaction. He pressed his forehead to Harry's as they started to wind down, panting and grinning against one another's mouths while sharing small, tired kisses.

Harry gently set him down again to lie on his back, elbows on either side while he peppered little nips around his face, reaffirming his scent all over Ben as he did so.

"Definitely... made a mess of yer princely paperwork..." Harry huffed, a little breath of laughter ghosting over Ben's sweaty collarbone.

Ben chuckled, and fondly kissed Harry's forehead, "Harry... Come to Agrabah with me."

He groaned, leaning up onto his palms instead of his elbows to inspect his worn out Omega, but not pulling out, "...Fine. If his _highness_ tells me I must, then I guess I must."

"It'll be a test drive," Ben smiled, "for when we travel around on The Revenge and you take me to see the world for our honeymoon."

Harry snorted and rubbed his cheek against Ben's wrist, "Have I said I love ye yet today, princess?"

Ben laughed, full and hearty with his arms wrapped around Harry's shoulders lovingly, "I could always stand to hear it again." he said, and smiled warmly, like Harry meant the world, "I love you too, Harry."

The pirate grinned, toothy and sweet, and dropped down to once again kiss his wayward prince.

* * *

Jane sat herself down across from Uma, alert to the cynical eyes watching the two of them like hawks. All across the lunchroom people stared. Uma hadn't expected anything else, but she was pleasantly surprised by Jane's bright and unbothered demeanor.

"You're not bothered by them?" Uma asked with a general gesture of her head

"Oh, I stopped worrying about what people think of me. I went through some major self confidence issues a while back, it took me down such a dark path... it was actually me that brought down the barrier when Maleficent escaped the Isle..."

Uma's eyebrows raised, looking about ready to fly away, " _You?_ "

Jane shrugged shyly, "It was a really dark path."

"Sounds like it." she smirked, and fiddled with the green apple on her tray, "You don't seem insecure to me though."

Jane smiled, "I really picked myself up again after that. I learned a lot. I made myself a promise to never let what other people thought of me affect me again. It only leads to problems in the long run."

Uma huffed, reminded of her little feud with Mal, how it had started with a joke about her height and a little sandbox in the back corner of the playground. "Sometimes it makes you more powerful in the long run."

"But how do you feel about yourself?" Jane asked, and took a bite of her sandwich.

Uma blinked, realizing that... she'd never really asked herself that question before, "How do I..."

"-feel about yourself." Jane finished for her, "If you don't learn to overcome it rather than replace it with anger and lashing out, then doesn't it just stick with you? If I'd used that wand to alter my appearance like I wanted to... then I'd still be obsessed with looking pretty. I'd still be out to please everyone else rather than myself."

The name 'Shrimpy' echoed around in Uma's head.

But she pushed it aside in favor of taking the other path of conversation, "You don't think you're pretty?" she huffed, "I don't believe that. I mean, you're not.. _cool_ or anything, but you've got your 'Auradon nice girl' look down perfectly. Better than a lot of those other prissy princesses, anyway."

Jane blushed, but couldn't exactly decide if that was a compliment or not, "Well, that also came with the self confidence. I used to have this really weird hair..."

Uma snorted, and took a bite of her apple, "I don't believe you."

Jane held up a finger, leaning away for a moment to fish out her phone before fiddling with the screen. When she found what she was looking for she flipped it around for Uma to see. On the screen was a picture of Jane, her hair in an oddly cut bob that framed her face in a way that made her appear rounder than she was, and topped with a silly big bow that looked so out of place yet so utterly appropriate. It was weird, but Uma thought it was fitting.

Uma couldn't help it, she laughed. "I can honestly say I've never seen a hairstyle like that before in my life."

"I told you it was bad."

She huffed, "Not bad, just different."

"Speaking of hair!" Jane exclaimed, maybe just a _little_ over excited and she slipped her phone back into her backpack pocket, "I wanted to ask about yours."

"What about it?" Uma questioned, taking a sip from her milk carton. _Milk was surprisingly good when it wasn't lukewarm and near spoiled._

Jane pointed to Uma's wrists, "You've got those bracelets on and they're supposed to stop your magic, _but your hair_ -"

"My hair isn't magic," Uma said, "It's just me. Like a mermaid tail. You can't just... block that stuff. It's part of you."

"Oh! Well that makes sense." Jane smiled, "I think it's really cool actually. I didn't know you could do that."

"Some of us actually have cool hair." she smirked, and Jane chuckled.

"I got made fun of a lot for my hair." Jane nervously admitted, "I actually keep that picture on my phone to sort of remind myself."

"To stay humble?"

"To stay courageous." she chimed, and her smile was still as bright as the sun over the sea.

Uma was silent again, staring at Jane, this bubbly little creature whom she had greatly misjudged, with a new light. "You're like... the _embodiment_ of goodness, aren't you?"

Jane's eyes brightened, and her grin was a mile wide, "Oh, wow! You really think so? Thank you so much!"

Uma rolled her eyes. She hadn't meant it as a compliment, but she liked the way Jane smiled, so she'd let it slip just this once. She'd let Jane have her moment. Simply as payment for being her company at what would have otherwise been a very stressful lunch period, of course.

* * *

The first day was fine, all in all, but Uma was tired when she finally stumbled back to her dorm room. She'd gotten up early for the swim tryouts and was expected to be up again the next morning for practice. She should probably regret trying out, but Uma was honestly just relieved to have a way into the water five days a week. On the Isle she'd been lucky to sneak away a few hours to wade in with the tide. The rocks were jagged and coarse, uninviting and Uma often cut her feet on them trying to get to the water. It was worth it though. Every instinct called her back to the sea, to the wet, to the deep. She wasn't meant to live on land her whole life.

Swim practice was going to be good for her. A daily dip and some exercise would help pass the days faster.

She was stuck in Auradon until she graduated at the very least. After that... Uma didn't know what was in store for her. She knew she was supposed to come here to be 'rehabilitated' but that obviously wasn't going to happen. Uma was rotten, always would be.

She rode with the tide.

Jane was kind, and she might sort of make things more bearable. Maybe Uma could even use her to her advantage, an unsuspecting 'friend' like that would be useful. She'd certainly thought about it, but anytime she sat down to try and think up a plan she found herself trailing off halfway through and losing the idea. Maybe it was the cuffs, working to prevent her from thinking devious thoughts.

Uma laid down in her bed, too big and soft to really be comfortable, and tried to think of the sea. She fell asleep to the calming lull of the waves, their shimmering gleam beneath the mid-day sun, but woke up in the night to the image of her mother's tentacle, reaching up from the deep and wrapping around her leg like a coil of vengeful seaweed, ready to drag her down into the depths and drown her.

Uma could _swear_ she heard her Mother's voice call to her, clear as a bell.

She had trouble getting back to sleep after that, and spent most of the night cradling her phone against her chest, the light illuminating the room around her and warding off all of the sea monsters lurking in the shadows.


	4. Chapter 4

Setting foot back onto the rickety old deck of The Revenge felt an awful lot like coming home.

To Harry, the dusty, grim and faded wood of the ship had been him home-where his family came to meet. It was where he had gone to escape, where he'd leave the loud, angry confines of his Father's house and hide away with his friends. Gil would pat him reassuringly on the back and Uma would tell him stories of the day they would take Auradon and get off this terrible island. She was always there, head held high for him, even if he'd heard her mother's kindless calls not hours before. Even if she was bone tired from working extra shifts, night shifts even, and the bags under her eyes were deep and dark.

She still kept her chin up, and promised him glory and freedom.

Harry placed a hand on the bow of the boat, her chipped ridges a sweet sadness to him. He slung the sack from off his shoulder, took a look around, and raised his nose to call out to his crew with a cheery grin, "

"Harry!" The excited voices of the twins rang out in unison, pushing through the rest of the crew coming over to meet him.

"We did what you asked!" Squirmy beamed.

Sammy puffed up his chest beside him, handing Harry a little scrap of paper with crudely scribbled writing, "Yeah, we took inventory for ya!"

Sammy and Squirmy were the little ginger twins of none other than his Father's old friend, Smee. They'd always liked Harry more than Uma, they'd admitted as much to him on multiple occasions, in fact. Harry didn't know if it was just his natural charm, or perhaps the connection between their fathers, but he was fine to stand in as a big brother figure for them. They were mischievous little twerps, but they were great for a laugh, very loyal, and occasionally just a little sweet.

But Harry would never admit that to anyone else.

Harry smirked, stepping forward and letting his bag drop beside his feet so he could ruffle their hair, "Aye, good lads. I knew I could count on ye."

Sammy shone with pride and Squirmy turned a little pink. While the boys were young, still unpresented, Harry had an inkling little Squirmy would turn out to be an Omega. Sammy? He could go either way. Harry wasn't sure if he'd rather a mischievous Beta over an Alpha, but they'd see where the winds blew.

The rest of the crew come to greet him, some catcalling and others whooping to congratulate him on his engagement. One pirate made a comment about being tied down, and Harry snorted, sending him a sly wink and a _very_ enthusiastic, "Trust me, _so_ worth it."

"Harry?" Squirmy said hesitantly, and Harry turned his head towards him to listen, "Are we going to get off The Isle soon?"

Harry's smile faltered, only a little, but enough to be seen, "Soon, boys. We're working on it. It's an issue of space right now. They're building a new wing fer kids from The Isle." he smirked, pinching the boy's cheek, "Ye'll have your own room over there when they're finished, ya know."

Squirmy lit up, and Sammy elbowed him in the arm with an insulted look before Squirmy stuck his tongue out at him.

He lifted his head to address the rest of them, adopting the voice of a captain addressing his men, "We'll be gettin' The Revenge over there too. The prince'll be seein' to that _personally_ after his coronation."

"An' ye'll be married to a king, 'Arry!" A teasing voice said, and the crew laughed.

Harry had adapted well to the role of captain. Most of the crew already loved and respected him. He's helped out most of them, picking them up off the streets to recruit for Uma, offering them new lives. He'd turned what Uma had intended to be a ragtag army of young pirates into an almost wayward home for them all. He taught most of them to fight, taught even more how to stitch someone up after somebody bumbled and lost their holding on a sword.

Harry clapped arms around two of his crewmates, "Ahh, it's good ta see ya'all again. Now, where's my first mate hidin'?"

Gil came swinging in on a rope pulled from the mast, laughing hysterically as he swung right into Harry's side, almost knocking him off balance.

"We've got a log to look over, mate." he turned towards the boys, fishing two coins out of his pocket and tossing them into the air for them to catch, "And ye two boys, go get yerselves a soda from the chip shop, as payment for yer services."

Sammy smiled widely at the coin in his hand, but Squirmy frowned, "We didn't do it for money, Harry-"

Harry smirked, "I know, but never give for free what ye can get someone ta pay for, boys."

Sammy elbowed Squirmy again, and the two took off down the docks to get their reward.

Harry grinned, turning around to order the others back to their posts before returning to Gil, "Alright, mate, what've we got?"

* * *

As it turned out... The Revenge needed _a lot_ more work than Harry had been expecting.

His hope had been to get her fixed up and polished in time for their honeymoon... promising Ben that he'd take him around the world had been a decision... possibly rash, but worth it to see Ben's face absolutely light up like it had. Not that Harry wasn't eager too... he was. Harry was excited to let The Revenge sail through the ocean's sloshing waves again, out in the open where she belonged. He was even more excited to get to do that with his beautiful mate beside him.

Two of the sails needed stitching, something that didn't matter all the time that they'd been docked, but they'd need it if The Revenge was going out. Harry wondered if Ben would be willing to fund new sails all together, but then thought maybe he'd try to slap something blue and gold on her, and thought better of it. There was rot in the wood on more than one section of the ship, some sections of the railing were splintered and needed to be sanded and polished, the wheel was rickety and needed tightening, possibly new screws all together.

That was all without the work that he wanted to do to the captain's quarters...

Just... so much to do.

Gil pointed out all of these flaws with a voice of authority, his Alpha status assisting him in the delivery, and Harry was happy to see how well he'd stepped into his role as leader. He'd been more than willing to hand the ship back over to Harry once he returned, which was good. Another Alpha might have tried to challenge him for it, but Gil was loyal and a good friend. Harry was proud of him and saw good things for his future. He'd matured a little. Maybe someday he'd captain his own crew.

Gil grinned at him and slapped a hand over his back, "How's Auradon teatin' ya? How's Ben?"

"Good." he smiled, only a little apprehensive initially, "We're very happy."

Gil's grin faltered for a moment, and he tipped his chin down in Harry's direction, a small signal of submission and/or remission, "I am sorry, Harry. I'll probably keep saying that for a while... I didn't know..."

"I know." Harry said, and returned his friendly clap to the shoulder, "Bygones, old friend. Ya've grown a lot since then. I can see it."

Gil smiled, bright and cheery, and hugged him again.

Okay... maybe not all that matured... but a little bit more, at least.

"Stop huggin' the captain. Ye'll ruin my rep."

Gil's teeth were pearly and wide as he clapped Harry on the shoulder as he drew back, "I'll be up in the crow if ya need me."

Harry nodded, offered Gil and easy smile, and headed towards the captain's quarters with the sack slung over his back.

The room hadn't changed much. Harry had been allowed in Uma's quarters only a handful of times, a privilege shown only to him and Gil, and even then the occurrences were few and far between. He let his bag rest beside the bed, deciding first and foremost that he'd strip it of the bright, coral blue sheets. Not his color, and not the right shade of blue to properly accent Ben's eyes.

Besides the bed, the cabin is made of a dresser, long table and a single chair. The table was meant to be used for maps, charting the seas and reading the stars. Of course, being docked for twenty plus years left it without a real purpose. It was currently covered with empty cans, some crude drawings and a book or two. After dropping the sheets in a pile beside the door, Harry moved the books to the top of the dresser, poked through the drawings for anything important, and swept everything else into a bin for tossing.

The walls were decorated with an assortment of paper clippings, wanted posters and images of Mal with her face crossed out or drawn over in red marker. Harry snickered, plucking one off the wall that he remembered watching her work on.

 _"Ye'll get it back." Harry said, and leaned over the back of the chair to watch Uma angrily uncap her red marker._

 _Gil stood awkwardly by the door, looking like he had one foot out already, "Yeah, it was just the salon. Not too bad a loss-"_

 _"That's not the point!" Uma glowered, and Harry poked his head over to see the little red horns Uma was drawing over Mal's picture, followed by a tail, crude moustache and a gap in her teeth._

 _"Ye've got us, Uma. Let me do my job for ye, I can take em'."_

 _Uma's scribbling paused, and she lifted her head. She sighed, "Thank you, Harry." she frowned down at the picture, then capped her marker and turned up to grin at Gil, "I will always appreciate you two and your loyalty." she said, "We're going to bring this place to it's knees some day. It'll be our turn soon."_

 _Harry tipped his hat, Gil whooped, and Uma gave them both one of her rare, genuine smiles._

Harry smiled down at the little picture now, unwilling to drop it into the bin with the rest. Instead he pulled out a box, and it became the first keepsake he packed away. He'd give them back to Uma when he returned. For all the wrong she may have done, they were still her things. She still used to be his friend.

He tossed in the leftover clothes from the dresser, some of Uma's favorite inspirational things she'd clipped from the paper, the first graffiti pattern that Squirmy made them-the original print. He poked through the photographs she had pinned up beside her other cutouts on the wall. One in particular stopped Harry. He plucked it off the wall carefully, cradling it in both hands like a babe as he looked it over.

It was an older picture, one that featured himself, squatted beside Uma, her hand on his hat and arm planted over Gil's shoulder on her opposite side. They were all smiling... okay, maybe it was closer to devious grinning than smiling... but they were happy. They all looked ready to conquer the world together, they were determined and one working unit.

And just like that, any inkling he'd had to just toss her things overboard left him in a flash. Memories and friendships were painful like that. They made hating someone a much harder task.

Gil's blundering fist knocked on the door, and Harry shoved the photograph into his jacket pocket, glaring at the door, "Aye?"

The door creaked open, and Gil caught a look at Harry, stooped over beside the box, "Oh wow. It's... all packed up."

"I'm gonna bring it all back with me." he said, almost a little guiltily, "Figured she'd want it, yeah?"

Gil looked contemplative, "Yeah..." he shook his head, "Oh, uh, Smee's boys said they've got somethin' they've gotta tell ya. That's uh, why I came to get you."

"A'ight." he grumbled, slipping the lid over the top of the box and sliding it next to his own sack. It would be easier to remember that way.

He stood, dusted off his knees and nodded towards the door, "Lead the way."

* * *

Uma decided quickly that she didn't miss working for her mother. Besides being away from the shouting, threats of whipping tentacles and not having to deal with hours and hours of greasy food assaulting her nose, Uma had a lot more free time than she used to. She enjoyed getting up early. She was fresh and energetic without the nightshift to rob her of a good night's sleep. She used her morning time at the pool, swimming beneath the dawning light that peered through the large glass windows. She loved the rush of cold water around her, stretching out her hair like someone might stretch a limb that had been long since lame with underuse.

Sometimes she met other swimmers, sometimes she had the water all to herself.

When Uma did run into another student, the exchange usually led to a polite "Good morning" and some light conversation about the weather, homework, or swim practice. She hadn't understood the purpose of small talk before, but Uma got the hang of it after the ones she regularly chatted with started to greet her in a friendly manner. Small talk served as some sort of gateway from acquaintance to friend, she realized. At the very least, it made the practices a lot more tolerable.

Today she ran into Melody just outside of the locker room.

"Hey, sea spider." Melody smirked, sitting on the edge of the drop into the deep end of the pool, "Early morning, swim?"

"What about you, fish lips? I'm here often, first time seeing you though."

Melody smiled, "I'm usually busy in the mornings, but I come when I can. Usually I can't make it and have to just be content with afternoon practice instead."

Uma hummed, dropped her towel onto the bench beside where Melody's was folded into a neat square, and sat down next to her.

"Have you been here every morning?" Melody asked curiously.

"Today marks the seventh day." Uma said, "It's a really nice pool."

"Not so great over on the Isle?"

Uma frowned, "Not really a place to swim. We didn't have pools at all... I used to just... kinda wade in the island shallows until the rocks got too sharp to go any further."

There had been a lot of days she'd gone back to shore with cut feet, the shallows of the Isle not made for swimming, but it had been worth it. Uma was connected to the sea and she needed to be amidst the waves now and then, if even just for a moment.

Melody looked sad, brows upturned and lips down, "I'm sorry-"

" _Don't_ say you're sorry for me." Uma snapped, "We were born different places. Whatever. I'm sure you got to swim every damned day."

Melody shrugged, turning her face away to join Uma in staring into the water. "Actually my mother wouldn't let me swim in the ocean for the longest time... She didn't even tell me I was a mermaid until I turned twelve." she snorted humorlessly, "Even then I had to really force it out of her."

Uma's eyes widened, "You didn't know _Ariel_ was a mermaid?"

"I didn't leave the castle much and everyone there was ordered not to tell me. I got really angry with her when I found out and I ran away... I went to the sea. It was actually your mother's sister that gave me a tail."

Uma snorted, "Bet you paid a pretty penny. Didn't get to keep it either, right?"

Melody smiled, "Grandpa lets me have one sometimes if I ask."

"Right. King trident. Hell of a cool grandpa."

"Do you have any-?"

"No." Uma said quickly, "My grandma left them both at a real young age. She doesn't talk about her. Like at all."

"I'm sor-" Melody cut herself off, "Right. Not sorry, but that sucks."

Uma smirked, appreciating her acknowledgment, and nodded towards her, "Think you can outswim me without a tail, fish lips?"

Melody grinned, "Wanna race and find out, _sea spider_? I bet I beat you to the end and back. Loser has to sneak into the kitchens and snag the special tuna sandwich Mrs. Potts hides for Lelo."

"Lelo?"

"Hawaiian girl, believes she's gotta like... sacrifice pb&j sandwiches to the fish god or something, but she never takes the tuna ones."

"Why does potts make them then?"

"She says it's by mistake, but Lelo eats them whenever she does."

"So why can't _we_ have one?"

"Mrs. Potts doesn't let me spoil dinner, some deal she made with Grimsby." Melody admitted, "But they're _so_ tasty."

"Uh huh... and who's Grimsby?"

Melody shied for a moment, looking at Uma like she was wary of her judgement. That was new for Uma too.

"Our butler..." she said slowly, and Uma laughed.

"Of _course_ you have a butler." she snorted, and Melody smacked her arm.

She tutted, "I can be bad too."

Uma grinned, "Sure. Reeeal bad. If you win you're gonna split that sandwich with me anyway, aren't you?"

Melody shrugged with a small, teased smile, "Maybe."

"Well... too bad you're gonna lose!" Uma cheered, and launched into the water.

"You're a cheater!" Melody laughed, and jumped in after her.

* * *

Ben had only just hopped off the last of the front steps of Auradon with Uma and Jane in tow when he spied his mate, strutting towards them with a friend hot on his heels, "Harry!" Ben exclaimed, overtly surprised, "You're back early?"

Harry stomped up to them, didn't set down his bag or the box in his arms to greet his mate like he would have, but Harry's nostrils did flare, scenting him. Ben was satisfied with that.

Gil and Uma eyed each other wearily, obviously still a little hesitant towards one another, but their eyes both held a sort of remorse behind their pause. They looked like they wanted to hug one another, give the other a friendly pat on the back and ask how things were going.

Uma broke eye contact first, opting instead to study the frilly bottom hem of Jane's shirt. Gil followed her gaze, and while Harry leaned in to whisper to Ben, Gil finally spied Jane.

He blinked. "You're an Omega."

Jane blushed, eyes widening a little and cheeks dusting pink as a wave of Alpha pheromones rushed out at her. Gil was peacocking. Harry turned away from Ben for a moment, a look of careful trepidation lining his face before putting a hand up between them, "Yer gonna meet a lotta Omegas here, Gil. Gotta learn to keep that in, mate."

Gil seemed to startle out of his stupor, "Oh! Sorry... I uh... you're the..." he counted on his fingers, "third Omega I've ever met." he gushed, "I'm not... really used to this."

Jane smiled brightly at him and Uma huffed besider her.

"No worries. I'm Jane!" she said, and extended an arm out to him, "It's nice to meet you."

Gil shook her hand nervously, and Ben tugged on Harry's sleeve, "Harry."

"Right." Harry nodded, "Gil, we gotta go."

Ben rolled his eyes, turning to the Jane and Uma with a polite expression, "Ladies, I apologize, but you'll have to excuse us."

Just before they went, Harry stopped, looked at Uma, and came striding back.

Uma almost thought to go into a defensive position, unsure what his intentions were. She slid one foot back, raised a fist to her hip and glared at him before he stopped, and to her surprise, held out the box he'd been carrying in his arms. She blinked, glanced once between the box and his face before he jiggled it insistently and she hesitantly reached out to receive it.

He nodded once, tipped his hat to Jane, and jogged to catch up with the other two.

"No clue." she answered honestly, but as soon as the boys were out of hearing's rage, she elbowed Jane in the arm, "So what do you think they're hiding?"

"Hiding?"

Uma scoffed, "Come on, you really didn't see all that concerned whispering?"

"Harry and Ben whisper to each other a lot..."

"First of all, Ew, and second, I don't mean their little lovey dovey murmurings. I'm talking about how Harry's back early, when he whispered to Ben he looked right at me, real accusing, and then how they all ran off to talk about it more. They're hiding something."

"Ben isn't someone who looks at people with accusation." Jane said simply, frowning at her.

Uma sighed frustratedly, "You're too innocent for your own good."

Jane was eager to change the topic, turning towards their original destination, "So, were you and Gil friends once?" she asked, "I saw how you looked at each other."

Uma snorted, "You could do better." she grunted, as they started back towards the dorms, "He's extremely stupid."

"Gil?" Jane bumbled, red sprouting up in her cheeks, "I don't know what you mean, I was only asking-"

Uma scoffed, "Oh please. I saw you eyeing up his arms."

"I was not!"

"They're pretty nice arms, you telling me you didn't notice them?"

"Well... I.." Jane squirmed, cheeks puffing out with a bit of frustration, "I can't just stay hung up over Carlos forever, can I? It's alright to find other guys attractive."

Uma smiled, mischievous, "Not when they're _that_ dimwitted."

"Uma, you're being rude."

"I'm just telling the truth." she grinned, smile overflowing with teasing mischief, "You're the one sexualizing him with your eyes."

"Oh, I was not!" Jane pouted, stopped her walk and crossed her arms, "You're incorrigible!"

"I think you mean hilarious." Uma said, turning to watch her friend pretend she was going to throw a fit.

"No, you're right, I misspoke. I meant _infuriating_!" she grumped, and her pout was just far too cute to actually be intimidating in any way.

Uma grinned and jostled the box in her hands, "Awe, c'mon. Dontcha see what's in the mystery box?"

The corner of Jane's lip upturned, "I admit... I am curious."

Her grin widened, "That makes two of us. Lead the way, hairbow."

"Uma, I told you to stop calling me that." Jane sighed, but started off towards their dorms again anyway.

Uma snickered, and followed along close behind, "It's just so fitting though. I think it'll stick."


	5. Chapter 5

"You think Ursula is planning something?" Ben asked carefully, and only after he was certain that the door to his office was shut.

Gil and Harry nodded from where they stood beside his desk. Harry was almost at the point of nervously pacing the floor as he finally started talking, "Squirmy and Sammy said they overheard her."

Ben shook his head, "Squirmy and Sammy?"

"Little tykes on my ship." Harry offered, "Smee's boys. Twins."

Ben lifted an eyebrow but nodded contently, "What did they hear?"

"Not much." Harry said, "They were goin' into the shop for a coke n' just heard the end of it." he looked forlorn, "She mentioned Uma."

"You think Uma is involved?"

"Wouldn't put it past her."

Ben frowned, "Both Melody and Jane have had nothing but good things to say about her time here... Even _Mal_ said your remedial goodness class has been-"

"So she's doing good 'ere, so what? It could all just be for show. How do you know she's not just _using_ Jane to get at Fairy Godmother's wand? Mal tried that."

"Mal didn't succeed, and Jane's learned her lesson. She's cautious about that now... She was really affected by that whole thing." Ben said slowly, then lifted his chin more confidently, "Fairy Godmother is also keeping an eye out for her. She knows about their friendship and she's got it under control, even if Uma really _was_ just using her."

Gil piped up, "But... Uma and Jane were laughing together when we left... She seemed real happy..."

"Uma _laughin'_ doesn't mean she's suddenly gone good, Gil." Harry snapped, "She laughs when things are goin' her way."

Gil shrugged, a little defensive and close to pouting, "Not like _that_."

Ben sighed wearily, two fingers pinched at the bridge of his nose, "We won't have any time to deal with this if there is an issue... Agrabah-"

"Yer still gonna go?" Harry asked chidingly, "Even if there really is a threat?"

"I can't just _not_ go! This is _vital_ learning for me, Harry. If I'm going to be an Omega king I'm going to need all the help I can get. I.. I _need_ to go and learn from Jasmine, I can't-"

"A'ight, I hear ya." Harry relented, and rested his hook in the small of Ben's back to try and comfort him, "But we'll need _some_ kinda plan then, love."

Ben eyed them, "You two were close with her, right? Why don't you just ask her?"

"Ya really think she'd talk ta me?" Harry scoffed, "She hates me."

"Gil?"

"Would you remember to be subtle?" Harry groaned, turning to face his first mate with a hesitant look, "She can't know we think she's up ta somethin'."

Gil looked down at the floor quietly for a moment before he shrugged again, "...I mean, I guess..."

"Gil, you don't have to..." Ben said softly, trying to be understanding.

"Nah, it's... it's good, right? If I do?"

"Just act like you're close friends again. It's nothing bad. If anything is up, you'll actually be helping Uma in the long run."

Harry side-eyed Ben with a grim look, but nodded to Gil when he turned to seek confirmation from him.

"Okay."

"Thank you." Ben smiled, reaching out to gently touch Gil's shoulder in a gesture of appreciation.

Gil smiled back, a little weary, careful to keep an eye on the Alpha starting to project some possessive pheromones his way. Gil left the room first, careful to make sure his head was ducked sufficiently as he left Harry's careful watch. Harry wasn't actually still holding on to any grudges, but the protective tendencies were still there, his instincts were still wary. It wasn't his fault, but it still had Gil a little on edge as he left with his tail practically tucked between his legs.

Someday Gil hoped Gil he'd understand that feeling too; what made Alphas so fiercely protective. Gil wanted to have someone like that too.

He changed his mind to other things quick enough; to Uma, to his job. Just... _other_ things.

* * *

The box was filled with old memories, clothes and some of Uma's... less inspired decor. As Jane and Uma sifted through its contents, Jane helped her put things away, going to far sometimes as to decide for herself how the room should be decorated with Uma's clutter. Not that Uma was complaining too much. She'd probably have just thrown things around on her own otherwise. She wasn't much on an interior decorator. Jane seemed to love it though, with the way she carried on, humming to herself as she set things in place and smiling or giggling when Uma shared little stories about the things they pulled out.

"Why is it that half of the clothes you owned are ripped? Is it a style choice or are you just clumsy?"

Uma chuckled from where she sat on the bed, pulling things out and sorting them over the bedspread. "I think it makes me look cool. You don't?"

"It makes you look like you're trying to look tough." Jane smiled, "Trying _too hard_."

"Ah, whatever. On the Isle you take what you can get."

Jane hummed, then grinned big and wide when Uma pulled out some vandalized pictures, "What are _those?"_

Grinning, Uma splayed out the lot, "I used to draw these when I was mad."

"At Mal." Jane said, rather than asked, and picked up a picture where Mal's eyes had been exed out, and a tongue drown over her lips. "So creative."

"Shut up." Uma smirked, "It was fun."

"Want them on the wall? In a scrapbook?" She took a step over toward the bin, "Iiiiiiin the trash?"

"Don't you dare! Put them on the desk and I'll figure out where I want to put them later."

Jane giggled.

Uma thought it was a little strange... Before, when she'd looked at those pictures it fed a little fire of anger in her belly. It was how she'd pump herself up for fights with Mal, or release her anger over losing. But... no feelings of anger, hatred or even tension flared up as Jane stacked them neatly beside her pencils on the desk.

One side of her mouth twitched up into a smirk, and Uma returned to rummaging in the box. Her hands touched something cool and prickly and she laughed aloud.

"Oh, you'll like this."

Jane turned with a huge grin, lifting a hand to cover her lips when Jane held up a necklace made of bottle caps, dangling it above the box.

"You really _are_ creative."

Uma produced more handmade trinkets after that, rings made of stones and twist ties, tin foil wrappers turned into fools gold, a bracelet Harry had made, and a 'broach' from Gil.

 _"Roaches are those shiny things girls pin to their chests right. That makes it treasure too, right?" Gil grinned proudly, holding out the crudely fashioned accessory towards her._

 _Harry laughed, "I think ya mean a broach, mate."_

 _"That's what I said."_

 _"That's definitely not what you said." Uma simpered, but took the gift with pride._

 _"You'll have a your own hoard in no time Uma!" Harry smiled, just as proud as she added the broach to the pile along with his bracelet._

 _"Of course! All pirate captains need to have a treasure trove!" Uma said, showing her teeth and laughing as she wrapped her arms around their shoulders, "And of course, her first mates!"_

 _"Aye captain!" Gil and Harry sang out._

Uma smiled as she told Jane about them, how she'd been determined to be a pirate captain ever since she was little. How she'd called the sandbox her

"It makes sense then, you guys becoming enemies."

"Yeah..." Uma said, "Hey uh, thanks."

"For what?"

She shrugged her shoulders slightly, eyes on her childish treasures, "Helping me unpack, listening to my stupid stories, that kind of thing."

"Of course." Jane replied, sitting down beside her, "We're friends!" she nudged Uma with her elbow, "What else you got in there?"

Jane was always quiet as Uma went on, content to simply watch Uma and listen to her stories. It had been a long time since someone had done that for Uma. Even longer since she'd gotten over her stupid pride long enough to really be thankful for and enjoy it. She poked around a little more, coming up with a rough draft of a graffiti design that Harry had made for her, it was followed by the first draft that Smee's boys had created. Jane still remembers how excited Harry and Gil had been to show her... She held the pictures in her hands, smiling softly down at the papers with some kind of nostalgic emotion.

All of these things came from simpler times, for sure.

Uma missed them. A lot.

Jane's soft hand rested carefully over the top of Uma's, concern flooding ever small bit of her cheerful face, "Uma?"

"Yeah. 'M good."

Jane shook her head, "You don't have to pretend with me, you know. I know this must be kind of hard."

Uma huffed, forcing away the would-be tears, "You don't understand."

"I have an inkling." Jane said. "Ben... told me a little about what happened..."

Uma stiffened.

"It's alright. I'm not judging you. Loving another Alpha-"

"Is weird. Whatever. I know. It's not the weirdest thing that someone can do though, you know. _It shouldn't matter_ -"

"It doesn't!" Jane suddenly exclaimed, rather loudly.

Uma blinked. She didn't think she'd ever seen Jane raise her voice, let alone interrupt someone. She was polite and reserved, apart from when she was offering her support...

"At least..." she continued, "not to me."

Frowning, Uma set the papers down, staring at Jane in an attempt to urge her to go on. She clearly had more to say on the matter.

Jane drew up her shoulders, hands fidgety in her lap, "I mean... it would... be sort of hypocritical of me to tell you it's weird." she said, mousey and soft, hesitant, "I was... interested in another Omega."

Uma's eyes widened in surprise, _"You?"_

Jane sighed, "...Is that so weird?"

"I guess not... you just seem so well put together."

Jane frowned, "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to take that."

Uma held up a hand, "I didn't mean it like that."

"It's fine."

"No, like you said, no right to judge."

Jane smiled gratefully, and looked down at her hands.

Uma nudged her, "So... can I ask who it was?"

Jane laughed self-deprecating, "Uh, it was actually Carlos..."

" _Carlos?"_ Uma chortled, "You're kidding."

"We each have our types. I think he's funny... and exciting. He also dresses really cute."

"Pfft. Aren't Omegas supposed to be into the big, strong, macho, manly types? I thought that was like... biology or something."

Jane elbowed her gently, more bark than bite, "Well what about you? What drew you to Harry?"

Uma leaned back on her arms, she'd sort of been wondering about that herself recently.

"I guess... he was mine. It was just... simple I guess."

Jane crossed her arms uneasily, "What does _that_ mean?"

"He... was really loyal. I said jump, he asked 'how high?', that kind of thing. He was always there. He let me be in charge even though we both knew he was stronger than me. He..." she trailed off, "I guess he was the first person I really liked, and who liked me." she drew her arms back in front of herself, not leaning them on her knees, "I didn't get much of that. Nobody did on the Isle."

"Sorry if I'm overstepping... but isn't that... just what friendship is supposed to be?"

Uma paused.

"We had each other's backs... through everything."

"Yes. That's what it means when you have a true friend. You're there for eachother. You're family. You... you can love them, but it's sometimes different."

"Are you saying you don't think I really loved him at all?"

Jane shook her head, "No, that's not what I'm saying. I just think... maybe you fell for him, because he was the first person to show you kindness." she said, "And that's... love is supposed to be so much more than that. It's not meant to just be about the first person to show you any attention. It's... _deeper_. It's more meaningful than that."

Uma frowned over at Jane, taking in her face, her upturned brows, how she put her whole heart into sharing kindness with others.

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You and Carlos?"

Jane rocked back and forth for a short moment, "I'd say it was more of a crush than love, but... I probably don't honestly have a place to talk here. I haven't had many experiences with true love."

Uma smirked, "Daughter of a Fairy Godmother and you haven't seen true love before?"

"Oh, I've seen it. It's all over the place... just... not my own."

Uma nodded, returning her gaze to the box, still only half unpacked in front of them. "I think I know how you feel."

"It's not all bad though." Jane smiled, and Uma looked over to her again, confused, before her grin widened, "We made friends out of each other."

Uma felt moved... in spite of her reservations. She liked Jane. Jane had called her a _friend_. Someone like Uma had a friend in someone like _Jane_.

"You're right." She grinned, and lifted the box back up into her lap. "Who needs Harry or Gil? I've got you."

"Uma, that's not what I meant-"

"It's fine. It's better this way." Uma said, and carried on like she was completely unaffected.

Jane could see it though. Jane always seemed to see what Uma was really thinking. She put a hand over Uma's gently, "You could apologize... I think Harry still wants to be your friend too."

"It's not that easy."

Jane shrugged, lips tight but eyebrows uplifted in a gesture of sympathy, "It could be."

Uma scoffed, but it was half hearted. Jane was right, after all. It could be. But Uma _was_ scared.

"I could go with you?" Jane offered quietly.

Uma snorted, "Nah. I'll tough it out on my own." she paused, "But, uh... thanks. I... do appreciate that you'd... uh, offer, I guess..."

Jane smiled, and Uma, for the first time in a long time, felt something stir in her gut. Jane's smile looked sweet enough that Uma suspected she might taste of sugar if kissed...

She blinked, startled at herself.

 _Where in the world had that come from?_

Uma inwardly chided herself and forced her eyes back to the box, sifting through it distractedly.

She went through it some more, finding old photos and smiling at them, sharing some more moments with Jane happily. She sorted them until the box was well and truly empty. Uma frowned, sifting through the pictures already on the bed again, a bit frazzled. There was a picture missing. A very _special_ one!

Uma looked through the pile again.

Then again.

She made a frustrated noise when she still didn't see it; her picture of the three of them. It was a favorite of hers, and it was gone. Uma tried to remember where she'd had it on the boat, maybe it had been misplaced. But... it had been on the wall with all the others. She remembered specifically placing it in the middle of her favorite memories. It always had a special place there.

Uma upturned the box.

Maybe Harry threw it away. Maybe he'd been so disgusted with her that he'd crumpled it up and burnt it.

"Uma?" Jane asked, hesitantly touching her arm.

Uma flinched, jerking away, "What? Nothing. I'm fine."

Jane frowned, and Uma wanted to kick herself. Jane's face wasn't meant for frowning. She should smile _all_ the time.

"Sorry." she said, impulsively; quickly.

The tight coil that tried to take Uma's breath away loosened when Jane offered her a reassuring smile.

"Are you okay?"

She shook her head, tossing a few braids back over her shoulder and straightening her back, "Fine. It's just... my picture's gone."

Jane peered into the box, "What picture?"

Uma sighed, pulling the box to the edge of her lap so that it would be easier to Jane to look, "I had one of the three of us... It was my favorite picture, but it's not here."

"Maybe it got left on the ship?" Jane offered, reaching in to help rummage through the contents.

Uma shrugged, "Harry's cleaning out the cabin, that's what all of this is. He'd have seen it." she glared at the floor, "He probably just trashed it."

Jane's frown deepened, "Ask him before you assume. I don't think-"

"It's not a big deal." Uma interrupted, and jerked her head towards the pile of fabric on the floor, "Help me put away these clothes?"

Jane smiled weakly at her, but stood, dusted off her dress with a can-do attitude, and started folding.


	6. Chapter 6

"You know," Belle said, swiping through pictures of beautiful wedding gowns on the tablet in her lap, "I always wanted a girl..."

"Gee thanks, mom." Ben said, chuckling.

"Oh! Not that I'm not overjoyed with you, dear." she amended, leaning over in her chair to pat his shoulder, "Simply someone I could dress up. All mothers secretly long for a little girl to dress up."

"Ben could wear a wedding dress." Jane suggested helpfully, smiling at the both of them.

Belle's eyes lit up, but Ben was quick to shut her down, "No thanks, mom. I'm going to wear my dress whites."

Belle slumped just a little in her seat, but perked up again when Jane showed her pictures of different flower arrangements that Ben had liked.

They were planning the wedding, or at least, working on some of the details. Most of the event had already been fleshed out, arranged, catered and paid for, but the small things... like the flower arrangements or whether or not Ben wanted to wear a veil or have a trail, those were still in the works between Ben and his mother. Jane had stepped in to be the middleman, being the royal event coordinator and all...

"What about your surprise for Harry?" Belle asked, eyes practically sparkling with excitement.

Ben smiled, "It's in the works, we're finishing up the details, but everything should be ready by the wedding date. Dad's helped me with the paperwork and we've been working hard to keep it a secret." he nodded in Jane's direction, "and Jane's been kind enough to help with the more detailed elements."

Ben leaned over to show her a picture, and Belle grinned.

"Oh I'm sure he'll love it!"

"I hope so. I know he's not exactly big on change, but who knows." he set the picture aside, "Thanks again, Jane. None of this would be possible without your help."

"Of course!" Jane said, "Even if it wasn't part of my job, we're friends, Ben. I'm always happy to help."

"You're looking after Uma as well, aren't you?" Belle asked, polishing off the last drink from her tea cup, " _And_ running the student committee, as well as school events. I just don't see how you ever have any time to yourself."

"Oh it's not so bad," Jane replied, standing to take Belle's cup and refill it, "I like to stay busy, and Uma's actually great company. We're friends."

"Really?" Belle asked, eyebrows raising in genuine surprise.

"What? Is that weird?"

Ben gave his mother a look, " _Not at all_ , Jane. It's really great."

"Well, you know they say it's impossible for Omegas and Alphas to be _just_ friends."

"That's outdated mom, and you know it. Jay and Lonnie are friends."

Belle gratefully accepted her refilled teacup from Jane, but paused the conversation when Jane's hand wobbled a little bit as she handed it to her, "Are you alright, dear?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Jane smiled, and sat back down herself.

Belle nodded, turning back to her son, "Jay is a bonded Alpha and Lonni's sworn off Alphas. It's an entirely different situation. Uma and Jane are _both_ unbonded."

Jane felt oddly tired, a little weak even. She blinked a few times, thinking she should try to add to this conversation, seeing as it was kind of _about_ her, but only found enough energy to lift her hands to her lap to lay them down gracefully.

"Jane, you sure you're okay?" Ben asked.

"I just feel a bit tired." she said, trying for a smile that probably looked as fake as it felt, "I'll take a nap later."

Ben frowned, "You should go take one now. You don't have any free time later. I've seen your schedule."

"But you're wedding is so close... we need to be working on this. And your surprise for Harry... I want to be here for that..."

"We'll plan that part more when you're feeling better then," Ben said, standing from his seat to help her up, "but you're no good to anyone if you wind up seriously sick. You look like you're about to pass out, Jane."

Belle stood to help her as well, but Jane waved them off.

"Im okay. I'll go sleep it off and be back later to discuss more of the details, no worries." She said her goodbyes and left Ben's study a little quicker than she should have.

She felt a little dizzy as she started walking down the hall...

Jane was almost to her room when her knees threatened to give out completely. She grabbed onto the wall and tried not to squeal as her stomach cramped. Lifting a hand to her forehead, she found that warm too. Of all the inconvenient times to get a stomach bug, this had to be the worst. There was so much to do!

Jane set an alarm on her phone and laid down, determined to just take a short rest. When she woke up again she'd take some cold medicine and power through whatever she hadn't slept off.

Jane was resilient like that, and a little cold was nothing to worry about, afterall.

* * *

Jane was in the middle of- well, she wasn't actually not in the middle of anything when Gil politely knocked on her door, but she pretended to be when he bashfully asked. She had nothing going on, in fact, she'd just been thinking she was bored out of her skull just moments before he knocked,, but Uma wasn't eager to see Gil.

"Later." she said curtly, about the shut the door, but Gil caught it with his boot before she could.

"Wait," he pleaded, "Ums, please?"

She frowned, but reluctantly, _stubbornly slowly_ , opened the door again.

"Come in."

Gil entered shyly, "Thanks."

Uma sat herself down on her bed, one leg crossed over the other, and pretended to be checking her nails as she waited for him to figure out where he wanted to plant himself. Gil had always been awkward with these things. Uma was used to it.

"So..."

"...So?" Uma scoffed, "You wanted me to hear you out, so I'm listening. Talk."

Gil frowned. He looked sullen, standing there like a kicked puppy, hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry things didn't-..."

Uma wanted to be angry. She really did. Gil sounded like he was trying to apologize for how things turned out for Uma; how Harry had betrayed her, how Gil had taken Harry's side in the end... Of course, she couldn't _really_ be angry. Gil wasn't in the wrong. Truthfully... Harry hadn't exactly been wrong either, but Uma was too prideful to mend the burnt bridge between _them_ just yet.

"Don't apologize." she said, trying for irritated, but the words came out almost fondly instead. Uma cleared her throat and lifted her head, "You're hopeless on a good day. I wasn't expecting anything else."

Gil's frown turned more poutish than perturbed.

"I am sorry."

Uma sighed, "I know. Wasn't your fault."

Gil sat down beside her, careful and slow, like any false move might set Uma off. The idea made her huff with amusement.

"I miss you." Gil said, "...Harry misses you."

Uma scoffed.

"No, he does! I know he won't say it... but he totally does."

"Thanks, Gil." she smirked, "But I doubt it."

Gil went to open his mouth, but Uma stopped him, " _It's fine_ , Gil. I don't care."

Gil frowned, the overdrawn pout Uma had honestly kind of missed, and after an awkward moment, shoved his hands into his pockets. "So..." he started, "Uh... whatcha been up to lately?"

Uma raised an eyebrow, "I'm a student, what do you think I'm doing?"

"I mean besides the... classes and stuff."

"You mean like the swim team?" she asked, a stabbing sensation of suspicion swirling up in her gut.

Gil rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean, like... _outside_ of school?"

Uma's head felt hot, "What do you mean, Gil?"

He shrugged again, "Like, I dunno. You used to plan stuff all the time- I didn't know if you were... like... not fitting in here?"

Uma felt her heart sink. It beat loud and angrily in her chest. The pounding was so intense, she thought it might try to jump right out of her chest and strangle Gil. He'd deserve it. "You're..." she started, not wanting to actually say it, not wanting to actually _believe_ it, "Are you _spying_ _on me_ for them?"

Gil's face paled.

"What? No! No, I was just- I'm just... Ums, I..."

Uma scowled, lip curled in outrage, "I knew it. None of you- you _all_ \- you're just-"

"Ums-"

"No! Get out!"

Gil blanched, eyebrows upturning like an upset, lost puppy, "Uma-"

"Get out of here, Gil!"

"Please-"

"I said get out!" Uma shouted, and shoved him.

Gil ran out in a flurry, and Uma was left heaving, fingers twitching up into angry fists, heart beating like a wild drum.

She was still an outcast then. They didn't trust her, probably never would. Uma had thought she'd been making progress... friends here, even. Apparently it didn't matter what she did. She'd always just be the Alpha that no one wanted around.

Uma's phone chimed in her pocket.

It took a moment to calm herself down enough to fish it out, but when she did, Uma felt her shoulders droop.

Jane texted. Jane _always_ texted. Jane _cared._

Uma sat down again and opened the message. An invite to get some lunch. Jane was still Uma's friend, even if there wasn't any other on the planet, she always had Jane.

...But what if they banished her back to the isle? They clearly didn't trust her, it wasn't unreasonable to think that they would.

They'd be separated... and Uma would be all alone again.

...With nothing but anger.

Uma made the decision then and there to ensure herself a way to get back. If they were going to banish her again, she'd make sure there were contingencies in place. She'd find her way back.

Jumping up from her seat, Uma set to work immediately. She flipped the phone around and carefully traced over the little blue shells Jane had glued to her phone case for her. She used her nail to hook under the corner of one, tugging carefully until it finally loosened enough to be pried off. She held the plastic shell in her palm, and smiled.

An anchor.

Anchors were small trinkets that held strong emotional attachments for a spellcaster. They could be anything really. Classic examples like; Beast's rose, Cinderella's slipper... or Harry's hook, were some of the more obvious ones. But there were more subtle kinds as well. A hairpin, a comb, rings, torn fabrics, etc. It could be anything.

These little shells, they were Uma's anchor to Jane.

And how she'd return to Auradon if they decided to kick her out again. Uma didn't want to leave. She'd started to build something here... something she'd destroyed on the Isle. There was nothing left for her back there now. She wouldn't go back.

Thankfully this kind of spell didn't need Uma to cast anything in Auradon. Her bracelets were still in tact, there would have been no way. The anchoring spell only required that one piece of the anchor be left wherever she wanted to return to. She could leave a piece halfway around the world, and as long as it stayed there, she could return. If they sent her back to Auradon, Uma could cast the spell there, and poof right back into Auradon like she'd simply popped out to the store.

One half of the anchor here, one half with her.

Uma regretfully ran her finger over the shell one more time, then snapped it in two.

The pieces weren't exactly even, but it didn't matter.

Now it was only a matter of finding a safe place to keep her precious half.

Uma paused as she went to hide it. They'd definitely clean out her room if they _did_ end up deciding to send her back, wouldn't they? She had to put it somewhere else for safe keeping. Uma thought about it, considered the pool, some place in the kitchens, but decided the best place would be _with_ her actual anchor.

Who better to trust?

Decision made, Uma slipped the two halves into her pocket and set out towards Jane's room.

Nearly there, Uma was still feeling angry, but much less, thinking about where she was going.

Uma was sure that if she told Jane what had happened, she'd be on Uma's side. Or... no, Jane wouldn't pick sides, she was too good for that, but she'd at least support Uma however she could.

Maybe Uma could just flat out give her the shell, tell her what it was and she'd take it and watch over it, because they were friends. Maybe she wouldn't have to hide it at all.

Uma smiled to herself wistfully as she came up to Jane's door and poised her fist to knock, eyes still on the shell in her palm.

Hand raised, Uma stopped before her knuckles could make contact with the wood.

The scent that filled her nostrils was pungent, sweet, tempting, and overwhelmingly easy to discern the moment it drifted under her nose. Uma couldn't bring herself to knock, eyes wide, hand held frozen in place, mouth parted slightly. Uma knew what that scent meant, why Jane's usual smell was amplified and twice-no, it was _three times_ as intoxicating.

Uma blinked. Stared at the door, hand now shaking ever so slightly, still unable to knock.

Heat.

Jane was in heat.

 _Omega._ In _heat_ , just beyond that stupid _door_.

Uma practically clawed at the wood, grip unsteady, and ripped the door open... almost right off its hinge.


	7. Chapter 7

Sweet, sticky air breeched Uma's nose as she entered Jane's room. It clouded her mind, depraved of real air; of anything but that _sweet_ , perfect scent.

She was beside Jane before she was even aware she'd crossed the room, kneeling on the ground where Jane had tumbled off the bed in her restlessness. The sheets and comforter had swept down to the ground with her, tangled around her like a warden keeping its prisoner. As if even the bedspread was trying to keep her from running off to find anyone—another Alpha—to satiate the horrible sensation she must be feeling. Uma was almost feeling grateful towards an inanimate object. She felt her lip twitch in distaste over what could have happened of Jane hadn't gotten herself tangled up like that. She didn't like the idea of Jane _"_ _finding"_ anyone for a few nights of "make me feel better" sex.

She thought fast, kneeling beside Jane and shoving the half-shell under Jane's mattress before reaching with both hands to help her up from the floor.

Her fingers tingled almost as soon as they made contact. Jane's skin was so warm and she... _she-_

"Please..." Jane muttered weakly, grabbing onto Uma's shoulders and lifting herself up the rest of the way—not completely up from the floor, but just enough so that she could sit up with her face tucked desperately into Uma's chest, sniffing her like an addict.

Uma had to physically tear herself away from Jane once she'd set her safely back into bed. Jane tried to latch onto her, fingers curled tightly into the fabric of her top as Uma attempted to pull away. Uma counted herself lucky for having slipped away when she did.

The last thing she wanted to do was mess up the one and only friendship she had left by attacking her at her most vulnerable and doing something... very stupid.

"I'll find FG..." she said towards Jane, who wasn't listening so much as begging under her breath and reaching out blindly.

Uma held her nose as she fled, not allowing herself to look back when Jane whimpered, knowing if she did then she'd never end up leaving.

"I'll be right back!" She shouted, scrambling out the door and slamming it closed behind her.

She stepped away from the room to go off in search of Fairy Godmother, but her legs stopped moving before she could take a second step.

Uma growled to herself, trying to Will her legs to move her away, but she wasn't budging.

 _What if she left Jane unattended and someone snuck in?_

 _What if Jane hurt herself and no one was there to hear it?_

 _What if—?_

Any manner of things could happen to her. Uma needed to stay right where she was and protect Jane's room.

She slumped back against the door, panickingly patting herself to find her phone. She had Fairy Godmother's number, right? Jane had given it to her on Uma's first day, along with her own.

Sure enough, Uma's phone had another number in it besides Jane and Melody's.

Uma sent a text instead of calling, unsure if she could manage any more than growling if she tried to use her voice. When she finished she put the phone down beside her on the floor, clasped both of her hands together in front of herself, and waited.

* * *

Mal stopped by with medicine at some point (possibly during the second day, Uma wasn't keeping track of the hours anymore) and tapped Uma with her foot. "You should really back off a little. You're scaring off all her potential mates with that stupid face."

Uma snapped her teeth at her, "Bite me."

"You already almost bit one of the other students. You sure you wanna go through FG for that again?"

Uma growled, low and in her throat, "They _shouldn't_ -"

"Shouldn't what?" Mal asked abrasively, arms crossed, "take advantage of her heat? That's what heats are _for,_ Uma, to find a mate and, you know, _mate_."

"Can't we lock her door or something?"

"And leave her in there alone to suffer? Isn't that more cruel?"

"She doesn't need some stupid _Auradon Alpha_ to- to—"

"Mate with her?"

"Stop that!" Uma snapped, baring her teeth until Mal was forced to back down, a real, heavy Alpha stare warning her away. "She can't make those decisions during a heat! She'd be out of her mind! She doesn't even _like_ Alphas!"

Mal blanched, drawing in on herself just a little.

Despite the fact that Uma was an Alpha, and one who liked to flaunt her status to boot, she'd never used it quite like that before. Uma often only flashed the Alpha card when she wanted to compensate for her size or the fact she was losing, but she'd never released such a rush of angry pheromones before... and she'd been angry _a lot._

"Uma..."

"Nevermind." She said, shaking her head and standing. "Just do me a favor and wait here for a sec. Don't let anyone past that door, I have to get something, then I'll be right back." Uma practically ordered, and paused for just a moment before resolutely walking away from Jane's door.

Wait- Uma!"

She headed for Ben's room with quick steps, sure that she'd be running into Harry too, but unwilling to let it shake her. Uma was feeling fuzzy, a little angry, she could get away with yelling at Harry today.

When she shoved the door open, she found the two of them, crowded closely together against the dresser. She snorted and looked away, waiting for them to notice their unwelcome guest.

She coughed a couple times to announce herself when they didn't immediately notice, and Ben squeaked. Uma might have stopped to tease them for it if she hadn't been in such a hurry... this was prime material, really.

Instead she took one small step forward and stopped there, "I need your help."

Harry, who had immediately put himself between her and Ben, sneered at her, "Aye, right. Why would we help _you?"_

She sighed, frustrated, "He'll help because he's the king." She smirked, "and _you'll_ help because he's got you wrapped around his posh little pinky finger."

"I am _not—_!"

"Relax." She said, realizing if she wanted to get this done sickly, she didn't have time to rile Harry up like she would have liked, "I just need to borrow Ben's charm... thingy."

Harry scoffed, annoyingly cocky, "Yeah, 'cus we're stupid enough to fall for _that_. Get out Uma."

But Ben put a hand on Harry's chest, "Harry." he said sternly, and Uma wanted to mock Harry for how easily he wilted(*whip crack*), but she had a goal to accomplish.

"Why do you need it, Uma?" Ben asked calmly.

Uma worked hard to wipe the glare from her brow, but it was hard. Harder still to keep the frustration from her voice, "Jane needs it. Her heat... They're- They're gonna let some _Alpha_ just walk in there and she'll-"

"Uma, that's the normal procedure for an unmated Omega. I promise she'll be fine."

" _No._ " Uma growled, "Just let me borrow it. Then she... she can pick if she wants." she jerked her head towards the necklace, " _After._ When she's got a clear head."

"Uma, you understand that this won't stop someone if Jane wants them... right?"

"I- yeah. Yeah, I know. But at least then we know she actually wanted them. It's not just... they've also gotta be compatible right? It's not gonna accept someone just because she's hot n' bothered."

"Aye." Harry grunted, crossing his arms, "But that doesn't mean we're gonna just-"

"Here." Ben said, stepping out of Harry's guard and handing the necklace over without a second thought.

Harry balked, "Ben!"

"Relax. I know I said I wouldn't take it off, but you're right here, and we'll be leaving for Agrabah tomorrow. I'll be fine until Jane is better."

Uma stared at him, incredulous, "I... know I don't deserve your help... so thank you."

"Of course." Ben smiled warmly.

"Yer gonna bring it _right back_ once she's done with her heat, ya hear?" Harry growled, pulling Ben back against his side.

"Yeah." Uma grunted, "I will."

She left then, the necklace tightly clenched in her palm, and thought she might understand why Harry had fallen for someone like Ben. It didn't mean she was content to let them go on happily through their days unpunished for breaking Uma's heart, but maybe she'd be fine with just teasing them now and then.

Besides that, they seemed very happy.

Uma didn't feel so driven to split them up anymore anyway.

* * *

Uma was headed back to Jane's room when she smelled the scent of another Alpha. She didn't take the time to discern the individual scent; just caught a whiff of protruding natural entitlement and broke into a sprint around the hall corner.

She'd almost taken poor Gil's head clean off before recognizing him.

"What are you _doing_ Gil?" She questioned with demand, blinking away the rage endured haze that tried to dictate her old friend's execution.

Gil was stiff as a board, "Mal said-"

"Of course." she snapped out in an irritated interruption, "Get going before you smell her and get any bright ideas **."**

"I, uh..." Gil fumbled, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, "I already did... smell her..."

Uma stilled, heart racing pathetically in her chest before she stepped between him and the door, "You smelled her?"

"...Yeah."

" _And you didn't go in?"_

"It's not her." Gil said with a shy shrug, "I know it's not her. She's not mine."

Uma frowned, secretly impressed and... very confused by what looked to be impressive willpower from a very unlikely candidate, "...How do you know that?"

"Harry said that I'd _know_. It'll be like smelling home and... and they'll make me want to be a better person! I don't really know Jane like that."

"You don't even _have_ to know her to know she'd make you a better person. It's _Jane_." Uma barked, almost insulted on Jane's behalf. "She's like... pure sunlight trapped in a bottle. You.. you get _infected_ with her goodness just by prolonged exposure."

Gil smiled wide, toothy, and dumb as the day he was born, but Uma found herself rethinking alot of what she knew about Gil when he cockily said, "So Jane makes _you_ want to be a better person?"

Uma clutched Ben's necklace tighter in her hand, eyes flickering from shocked and wide to a blank stare, "Thanks for keeping watch, Gil." She said wearily, a little zoned out.

"Yeah, no problem." he grinned proudly, then patted her arm, "Tell her I said hi when she's feeling better."

Uma nodded, still staring off, and hardly noticed him make his leave.

When she finally had her trailing thoughts back under control, Uma remembered that she'd been in the middle of a mission. She held the necklace to her breast, took a deep breath and went into the room.

The scent inside practically smacked her upside the head.

Clean and fresh, Jane smelled of the sweet air of spring in Auradon, or the sharp cut of the sea breeze without the salt... almost like she'd just been washed in morning dew. That wonderful clean scent was combined with... apples. Or at lease something eerily similar to it. It was fruity; crisp and sugary, but not sickeningly so.

It was the most delicious scent Uma had ever encountered, and she wanted to wrap herself up in it like a blanket. Hide from the world and spend the rest of her days in this sensory paradise.

But...

It wasn't the smell of home, and Uma's shoulders dropped in defeat.

Home smelled of rot. It smelled of fish corpses and dead dreams. It was her mother's breath, coarse enough to drown out even the pleasant smell of the sea.

Home was the smell of filth. Uma should have known that would never be Jane.

Uma bittered instantaniously, and felt like running away. She stopped herself just one step back. What did it matter if she and Jane weren't mates? She'd still protect her. They were still friends. It didn't make any difference if they were or weren't destined to be... romantically entangled or whatever. That didn't matter a lick.

She made her way towards Jane.

Jane noticed her before she was even within eyesight, and outstretched arms were waiting impatiently for her when she finally made it to the bed.

The sound of desperation that greeted her had Uma's feet glued to the carpet, and hand drifting towards her automatically. She stopped herself before actually touching Jane, but it was a near thing.

"Please..." came the sultry, sugar coated plea.

"I'm sorry, I'm just dropping something off for you," Uma said, "then I have to go... I can't help you like you need."

"Go?" Jane asked, and the way her face fell reminded Uma of a child begging her mother not to leave her at the daycare, "No. No, don't go Alpha..."

Jane tried to sit up to reach her, but Uma quickly slipped the necklace over her neck, shushed her, and gently pressed her back down by the shoulders.

In her efforts, Uma found herself caught by a surprisingly cunning Jane. She wrapped her delicate fingers around Uma's arm and back, pulling Uma down and over her.

Uma held her breath.

It was an unexpected pleasure to find that instead of wrapping her legs around Uma and demanding a knot, Jane simply pressed her face to Uma's chest, and nuzzled her.

Uma couldn't believe Jane's innocence, blindsided enough to be pulled closer, to be brought flush together, her right hip bumping Jane's left, one leg off the bed, and found herself with her nose positively _buried_ in Jane's neck.

Directly from the source Jane's scent was even more pungent, as fermented as the room may have been, and Uma was thrown for yet another loop.

She couldn't help one deep breath in through her nose before Uma chided herself, finally getting over her wooed-to-jelly arms and pushing herself up and away before Jane could catch her again.

"No! Don't go," Jane whimpered, "please, Alpha, don't go!"

Uma had to drag herself out of that room, each step bringing on a new spurt of begging from Jane and self hatred from Uma. Every desperate little cry pulled at her, screaming at her to turn around and run back into Jane's arms.

Making it to the other side of the door felt like the biggest accomplishment in Uma's life.

And she'd kidnapped a prince. Twice.

Uma planted herself outside the door for the rest of the night, to the next morning, and into the mid afternoon. She was close to dozing off when Fairy Godmother seemingly appeared out of nowhere with a bagel and a cup of coffee.

"I didn't know if you like coffee or not, but there's enough cream and sugar in there to disguise the taste if you don't."

Uma thanked her, holding the warm mug in her hands. "She's quieter now. Didn't sleep all night, but I think she finally is now."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"Can't sleep on duty."

Fairy Godmother nodded, "While I appreciate you watching over my dear Janie, you need some rest too."

"But Jane-"

"You can't stay awake for an entire week, love. You'll be a much more efficient guard if you have a few hours of sleep."

Uma frowned, but nodded in understanding. "Okay. She's borrowing Ben's Omega charm right now, but she needs one of her own. He said he needed it back right after her heat was over."

Fairy Godmother blinked, thoughtful and looking almost surprised, "You asked the boys for it?"

"I couldn't stand the idea of some stupid Alpha coming along and taking advantage of her like this..." she swallowed, "She's... my friend."

"Carlos, Ben, Lonnie, and all the others are her friends too..." Fairy Godmother said, not-so-gracefully coming down to the floor to sit beside her, "but they're not here waiting beside her door every hour of the day."

"They should be." Uma muttered under her breath.

Fairy Godmother raised an eyebrow.

Uma sighed, "Is she going to be okay? I haven't ever actually... seen an Omega go _through_ a heat..."

Fairy Godmother smiled with understanding sensitivity, "She's not bonded, so she'll be fine. It'll be a little painful for a while, but she's a tough girl."

Uma nodded, "Can we help her with the pain at all?"

"Well, there are some medications like these," she said, lifting a small prescription bag, "that'll help a little bit... but she'd need to mate to make the pain really go away."

Uma flinched, "I don't like the idea of her being mated." she glared at the floor, "I... don't know why but I just... really hate it."

Fairy Godmother grinned, "Maybe you're being protective? Alphas generally are."

"I've never been protective over anybody before."

"Not even Harry Hook?" she asked, somewhat knowingly, and Uma started to wonder just how 'good' this lady really was. A devious smile like that didn't belong on a 'good' person.

"Harry keeps to himself. Always been that way. He doesn't _need_ me."

"...but you think Janie does?"

She frowned again, "Jane... can hold her own. But..." Uma's hands played restlessly with one another as she glared off into the distance, "I... _want_ her to need me."

Uma felt lost and confused as she looked up at Fairy Godmother, whose smile had soured ever so slightly. Enough at least to worry Uma. She opened her mouth to question the change but Fairy Godmother was too quick. She simpered and patted Uma on the shoulder like she always did when comforting one of her students, but it felt... decidedly off. Her hand was too stiff, the tension following up the rest of her arm so that it was stock still and the movements were clunky.

She had certainly been unnerved by _something_. Was it something she'd said?

"I need to go in and check on Janie." Fairy Godmother said, standing before Uma could ask her about the sudden shift in mood.

* * *

The morning Jane finally came back to herself, she found Uma still sitting on the floor outside her door like a protective guard dog, fast asleep with her head propped up against the wall. The idea of Uma barking at passers by like a protective pooch made her chuckle, tired as she was, and she crouched down beside her to gently nudge Uma's shoulder. "Uma." she said softly, tugging her blanket closer with one hand, "Wake up."

Uma jostled, suddenly alert, or at least feigning it, "What?! I-" She spotted Jane quickly, and let out a long breath of relief, "You're... you look better."

"I'm doing a lot better, yeah." Jane smiled, "How long have you been here?"

Uma turned her eyes to the floor and coughed, a little embarrassed, "I... wanted to make sure you weren't taken advantage of... like that..."

Jane blinked, "Have you been out here the whole time?"

"I went in a couple times," Uma admitted, "which reminds me, you'll need to return that charm to Harry and Ben." she said, jerking her head towards Jane's neck.

Jane's hand lifted to touch the necklace curiously. She looked down at the little pendant resting on her clavicle in pleasant surprise, "Oh." she shyly ducked her chin, "I think I remember you coming in actually... I umm... well, I hope you'll forgive me for being so... forward. Heats really make you do stupid things and-"

"Don't worry about it." Uma said, and cleared her throat. "That's what friends are for, right? Can't help it if we just happen to be an Omega and an Alpha."

Jane fiddled with the little gem for a second before smiling up at Uma, "Did you actually go ask Harry and Ben for this? That must have been so awkward."

Uma snorted and stood, dusting off her knees in an attempt to be nonchalant, "Wasn't that big of a deal."

She turned to leave, but Jane caught her arm, "Thank you, Uma." she smiled, "Really... I really appreciate you looking out for me."

Uma stared at Jane for another moment, looking like maybe she wanted to say something more, but shut her eyes and nodded slowly, a soft smile creeping up into her face.

When she left, Jane watched her go with some unknown emotion blooming up inside of her chest. Her cheeks were warm, heart beating a little faster than normal, but she decided to attribute it to the lingering effects of her heat.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry has seen plenty of magic in his day. He's seen women turn into fish and back again, colors change with the flick of a wrist, heck, he'd even seen when Maleficent transformed into a raging dragon on TV, but this? This was unnatural.

A plane.

"What do you mean they don't use magic?" Harry had practically squealed, gripping the arms of his seat as the plane rose to cruising altitude.

Ben chuckled, placing a hand over the one Harry had over their shared arm rest. "It's technology, Harry, it doesn't _need_ magic. It stays in the air because of how it's built."

"S' unnatural." Harry griped, eyes closed and head back against the seat with a tight jaw.

Carlos' head poked over the seat in front of them, turned around to look at them as he grinned, "You should've seen Jay that one time when Mal put a spell on his skateboard and it flew." He said. "He was terrified!"

Jay popped up next, crossing his arms over the back of the seat, "My dad said inanimate objects _shouldn't_ _fly_. So I was a little spooked," he smacked Carlos' arm, "but I wasn't _terrified_."

"He gripped the board with both his arms _and_ legs and squealed like a girl."

Jay elbowed him hard in the shoulder, "Shut up. You remember when _you_ met Duke for the first time?"

Carlos opened his mouth to retort, but Harry held up a hand and looked like he was getting a headache.

"You don't have to worry," Lonnie chimed in from behind them. "I've taken a lot of planes before. It's perfectly safe."

Harry grumbled, loosely swinging his head towards Ben in a way that screamed 'out of patience but full of drama', "Remind me why we brought _these_ three along with us?"

Ben smiled, unaffected by Harry's chilly demeanor, "Lonnie's mother is going to be there to help Jasmine with the classes and Jay's father is from Agrabah, we thought it would be good for him to see it."

"And I tagged along for Jay." Carlos chirped in happily, looking relieved to make his mate smile genuinely. Jay wrapped an arm around his neck.

"Aight, now turn back around before I smack ye both." Harry said, "I need ta concentrate."

Lonnie snorted but sat back down in her seat, Jay shrugging next and following her lead, leaving Carlos to be the last one to turn around and face forward with a barking huff.

Finally.

Ben smiled and leaned his head against Harry's shoulder. He held Harry's hand tightly in his own, protecting calmness and comfort to help him relax. The moment was so tender and soothing Harry found himself starting to grin, of course, he'd practically _had_ to when Ben started humming sweet songs under his breath.

The plane _landing_ went about as well as expected, but Ben held Harry's hand and Carlos told him a joke that was actually quite funny(even if Jay had to finish the joke for it to actually make sense).

Harry requested they sail back to Auradon when they were done instead. He'd been devastated to find out there weren't any large bodies of water close by.

The palace was immaculate, with copper roofs at the top of each tower that swooped out and up into a fine tip. Balconies, styled windows and a painted stone that radiated warmth and light made it feel only fitting for the hot desert that surrounded it. You could see the castle from anywhere in Agrabah, and from the castle, even horrible eyes could make out the endlessly dragging stretch of desert.

The inside was plush too, lined with bright colored cloths and tapestries, swords, and displays of decorative armor that put Arabian knights to shame.

The five of them were ushered in by a sect of guards, and when they entered the throne room (struck dumb with all the images to take in so quickly) Lonnie's mother, Mulan, Jasmine and Aladdin were right there to greet them, Jasmine holding her arms out to them in warm greeting (towards Ben especially).

"It's lovely to meet you in person, Benjamin!" Jasmine smiled, shaking his hand after a brief hug.

"Thank you, it's a pleasure to meet you too." He noticed her eyes wandering to Harry standing just behind his side and took a step back to introduce him, "And this is my mate, Harry."

"Yes," she said, and Harry lifted his chin to mimic the lift of hers. "It's a pleasure to meet you too."

Harry nodded and shook her hand, then Aladdin's beside her. His lip quirked up in a grin when he shook Milan's hand; a firm, self assured grip.

When the shaking of hands went down the line and came towards the end, the last of the line was Jay. He held his hand out with a tight stiffness to Jasmine, and knowingly caught the hesitation in her reach when he was introduced.

"And this is Jay."

Jasmine paused, hand half out but not looking willing to move forward the rest of the way, "Jafar's—" she started, but behind them there was a loud crash, turning heads and cutting the cord of conversation.

The party turned to see one of the serving girls hurriedly scooping up a dropped tea set (thankfully tin and not shattered) back onto it's tray.

Jasmine had retracted her hand completely when the commotion distracted them, but she didn't offer it again. Aladdin however, took a breath, gave him a big smile and stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Jay."

Jay shook his hand with thankful enthusiasm.

"First impressions aren't everything." Aladdin said, and nudged Jasmine until she softened, relented and finally shook with him as well.

Carlos held Jay's hand tightly in his own as soon as they were done.

Mulan pulled Lonnie into a tight, warm, side hug as Jasmine smiled, and Ben seemed to be taking mental note as she straightened her posture and addressed them all.

"Well, we have some time before lunch will be ready," She said, "why don't you all take some time to look around the palace? Our home is open to you you all as long as you're careful with that you touch."

She looked apologetically over to Jay, who grinned mischievously, "I promise to leave only with what I came with, princess."

She grinned, "Oh I'm not worried. Living with Aladdin has taught me a lot. Everything is insured. I'm just worried one of you will get hurt if you start messing with the armor or the balconies."

"Hah." Harry laughed, "No empty tin can is gonna get the best of a _cap'n_."

Jasmine smiled with amusement and looked to Ben who bashfully inclined his head and before starting to pull Harry away.

* * *

The first day goes smoothly, filled mainly with sight seeing and itinerary planning. After taking the next morning to sleep in, lounging amongst a myriad of blankets, pillows and throw decor.

The days get busier, Ben pops off to class with Lonnie and Harry explores. Carlos likes to keep him company, and amuses Harry with dramatic re-enactments using the armor they definitely _shouldn't_ be touching. Jay sometimes plays as his co-star, and one particularly afternoon (after drinking some palace wine and being bribed with chocolate) Harry even picks up a sword.

Of course they're caught by a few maids, who chide them in a way that's really more friendly and fond than stern, and offer them a better use of their downtime by giving them jobs.

At first there's lots of grumbling, but they all take to 'special security' like Uma takes to water. Their job is really just to explore the palace, use their own skills and—frankly—shady pasts to see if there are weak spots.

Carlos is good with ground level; sneaky back doors, windows, etc. Jay is up top. He jumps between support beams and shimmies up columns. Harry would find his weird gymnastics impressive if he hadn't seen Jay slowly slide down a particular bannister, clinging and... slipping.

Harry, for his part, handles brute force entry. Their garden, for example, needs work. The vines braid up to the top of the wall, making what should be an impenetrable wall more vulnerable. The decorative statues along the same wall mean there's a way to climb the outside too. Really, it's like they _want_ to be attacked.

It's an odd job, but it's interesting enough to eat up the time for them between sight seeing and when Ben and Lonnie get out of lecture.

As Lonnie waves them off after classes late in the week Harry takes Ben's hand. They start in on their trek back to their room, the seat of their steps lightly swinging their arms between them.

Harry feels a little sick with how grossly cute it is. He decides to ask, just to speak and get his own attention off of it, "Sooo why's the coolest lass in Auradon sitting in on _Omega_ classes, love? She's a beta, aye?"

"She may be a beta, but she's very headstrong. Her mother holds a very powerful position in the Chinese palace. Practically a half-step down from emperor. She's planning to take over for her mother when she retires and I think she'll be great." Ben said, sighing a little as they walked, eyes on their hands, "While its very uncommon to find Beta leaders... She doesn't _need_ an Alpha mate to help her. She's perfectly capable all on her own."

"She doesn't want a mate?" Harry asked, "Like, at all?"

"It's not that... I think she just really wants to prove that she's as fierce as her mom. She's very strong willed. I think she's honestly content without one, but if one came along I don't know that she'd say no."

"Well, I couldn't live without ya."

"Sweet talker." Ben smiled.

Harry grinned, leaning in to slip his hands over Ben's waist, spinning him every so slightly so that he could slot himself in right behind, cheek over shoulder. He kissed the underside of Ben's ear, putting on a sultry voice as he said, "Ya know... with tweedledee and tweedledum sharing our room... we havn't really been able ta..."

He trailed off intentionally, leaving Ben to scoff, admittedly amused if not bashful. He batted at Harry's arm playfully. "Yes, but they're still our roommates Harry. We can't-"

"What about a little stop off before heading back then?" Harry asked, steering Ben towards what looked to be a broom closet.

"A closet, Harry? Really?"

Harry opened the door, giggling and about to push Ben inside when they stopped, pale.

"Oh my gosh!" Carlos yelped in alarm, pulling a few discarded clothes over his... lower half.

Harry covered Ben's eyes with his hand

"Didn't see a thing." Harry said, ushering Ben out of the doorway and leaning forward to pull it shut again, "take yer time, gents."

When the door was reshut, Jay and Carlos shouting pleads for their innocence, Harry took Ben's hand, started the trek back to their room, shaking his head and claiming he was no longer in the room.

* * *

After wrapping up the last of his 'security' work and having seen all the sights he could possibly see, Harry found himself without preoccupation while Ben attended his classes.

He'd spent time in the room, uncomfortable amongst all the plush furniture, thrown about pillows and glittery draping things coming from seemingly everywhere. It was beautiful, certainly, but he just felt extremely out of place. Getting used to Ben's castle had been hard enough, nevermind this bedazzled drapery madness.

Harry was up and out the door before an hour had even passed, and found himself loitering in the hallways, checking out the palace structure and finally at a balcony, overlooking the city and the desert beyond.

He missed the ocean.

Harry ran a hand down his face before leaning over the marble railing that kept a fellow from tumbling down into the courtyard. He was tired. Flying without magic, visiting new palaces, meeting kings and queens...

This was his life now.

It was one thing adjusting to palace life when he could spend every waking moment right beside Ben, not even needing to talk out his frustrations because his mate was right there, overseeing it all and rubbing his back comfortingly— or... rubbing _other_ things when he got stressed. Harry huffed to himself with mild amusement.

Now they could go days without seeing one another sometimes, wrapped up in different areas, Ben with his responsibilities as King and Harry with trying to keep the crew still together while not actually being at the Isle. Nevermind trying to juggle all the paperwork it was going to take to get them _and_ the Revenge over to Auradon like he eventually wanted.

And what about taking her out to the sea? What would he and Ben do when Harry was finally able to sail his ship?

Sure, they planned to have their honeymoon out on open waters, Ben's special gift to him, but that would only be temporary wouldn't it? A month or two at most...

And Ben wanted wee ones.

Not that Harry didn't _like_ kids, they just weren't his style. Sammy and Squirmy were probably about as close as he got to dishing out anything _close_ to fatherly affection.

"Cod liver oil and fish sticks." Harry groaned to himself, dropping his forehead to his arms.

What a mess...

Harry never got around to bringing up the topic to Ben before they get ready to leave. He didn't bring it up re-boarding the plane either, as much as Harry feels he should start spouting his final words. They should talk about it, Harry knows, it's one of those things Ben will chide him for later when he finally finds out, dishing out his normal spiel of "talking out our problems" and "Being good usually means being honest". There's just never really a moment free and unhindered by other people swarmed in around them to casually bring it up.

So, Harry resides himself to not talking about it. It's definitely not the best decision, probably not even a _good_ decision, but it's the decision he lands on. He settles himself in, Ben's kind hand a welcome warmth over his own, and stews in self hatred.

Maybe it'll be easier to talk when they're back home, after the wedding? Wherever and whenever it's less crazy. Then Harry can muscle up enough to talk about—argh—his _feelings_.

Right. He'll do it.

Back home.

When it's less crazy...


End file.
